Owain Tudur Jones returned to competitive action yesterday as Hibs Under 20s drew 0-0 with Rangers at East Mains.
The Wales international midfielder was making his first appearance since injuring his hamstring in late January.
He was joined by other experienced players such as Alex Harris, , Jason Cummings, Danny Handling and Abdellah Zoubir
Hibs went into the game knowing that victory would see them go top of the table however despite dominating for large periods of the match they were unable to grab the decisive goal.
The best chance of the match fell to Alex Harris in the first half as his header flew wide of Scott Gallacher’s goal.
After the break, Euan Smith and Jason Cummings both came close, whilst substitute Max Todd hit the bar.
Nevertheless Head of Academy Coaching James McDonaugh said he was satisfied with the overall improvement in the performance.
After the game he told Hibernian TV “I actually pointed out to the players in the changing room that if you go by scorelines; it is 5-1 to 2-0 and now 0-0, so there is a clear improvement.
“Taking away the scores and looking at the performances of individual players and there is also a definite improvement.”
Photo by John Preece
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“I thought we played well and I was really pleased with them in most aspects of the performance, we were nice and solid at the back and that continued even when we replaced Maybury with Wilson.
“I thought we were really good in the middle of the pitch and dominant in there and in the wide areas we were creative and that helped to drive us forward. Where we found it difficult was in and around the edge of the box.
“But overall I thought we were the better team and we certainly didn’t deserve to lose the game and probably just shaded it to win the game.”
Hibs’ under-20s: Paul Grant, Andrew Black, Ryan Baptie, Euan Smith (Scott Martin, 81), Alan Maybury (Bob Wilson, 60), Tom Gardiner, Alex Harris, Owain Tudur Jones, Jason Cummings, Danny Handling, Abdellah Zoubir (Max Todd, 60). Unused substitutes: Dougie Horne, Aaron Dunsmore, Callum Crane, Jamie Beaton
Hibs’ under-20s are back in action on Thursday against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the Highland Football Academy, Dingwall, kick off 2pm.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
