Hibernian 3-2 Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath’s time wasting tactics came back to haunt them when a Jason Cummings’ toe poke deep into injury time spared Hibs’ blushes and secured a valuable three points at Easter Road this afternoon.
The day started with a celebration to mark legend Pat Stanton’s 70th birthday and several of his former team mates took the field to welcome him onto the hallowed turf.
The great man led both teams onto the park to a standing ovation from both sets of supporters then the players lined up for a minutes applause for former star Bobby Kinloch who sadly passed away last week.
Alan Stubbs replaced captain Liam Craig with on loan Dylan McGeouch and handed the armband to David Gray.
New arrivals Jake Sinclair and Dominique Malonga were listed amongst the substitutes.
Hibs started brightly and dominated possession without troubling the Cowdenbeath keeper and eventually took a deserved lead midway through the first half when Scott Allan took a quick free kick finding Mark Kennedy on the right wing. The Everton youngster then sent an inch perfect cross into the box which was met by Jordon Forster who headed the ball into the net.
Cowdenbeath equalised four minutes after the break with a well taken goal from Sean Higgins which silenced the Hibs’ fans.
A few minutes later, the Fifers should have added a second when Higgins struck the bar before the ball was scrambled clear, leading to a chorus of boos from the disgruntled supporters.
Jimmy Nicholl’s men then took the lead in the 56th minute when Callum Gallagher headed home from a Jon Robertson cross.
At this stage, Hibs were actually bottom of the Championship.
Stubbs immediately replaced Allan with Malonga and Hibs were denied a clear cut penalty when referee John McKendrick failed to spot a clear handball inside the box sparking fury amongst the supporters.
With 15 minutes remaining, he also missed John Armstrong pull back Jason Cummings inside the box and waved away Hibs’ players appeals however his assistant had spotted the infringement and drew his attention to the incident.
Malonga grabbed the ball and confidently dispatched the resultant penalty straight down the middle into the net.
From then it was one way traffic with Malonga causing problems for the Cowdenbeath defenders who continued to waste time as they fought for a share of the points.
Their tactics however came back to haunt them when Cummings prodded the ball home from close range in the dying seconds.
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, Hanlon, Forster, Robertson, Stanton, Heffernan, Stevenson, Allan, McGeouch, Kennedy. Subs: Perntreou, Fontaine, Craig, Sinclair, Handling, Malonga, Cummings.
Cowdenbeath: Thompson, Campbell, Armstrong, Robertson, Milne, Higgins, Gallagher, Kane, Brett, Oyenuga, Fraser. Subs Flynn, Jurisic, Brownlie, Miller, Johnstone, Lynas, Mitchell