Hibs secured a place in the League Cup quarter final draw thanks to two goals from new signing Dominique Malonga against Ross County in Dingwall last night
Both sides went into the game on a poor run of form with County stranded at the foot of the Premiership and Hibs sitting seventh in the Championship.
Head Coach Alan Stubbs brought back skipper Liam Craig into the starting line up along with Liam Fontaine, replacing Jake Sinclair and Matt Kennedy.
Before the game Stubbs insisted that his team were the underdogs, but despite this Hibs took the lead in the 22-minute mark when Craig’s cross from the left was met by Malonga and the big striker’s header beat former Hibs keeper Mark brown and flew into the net.
The Staggies fought back but 15 minutes later Malonga added a second after getting on the end of Lewis Stevenson’s cross, to the delight of the travelling supporters.
Hibs started the second half brightly and Jason Cummings almost wrapped the game up but his volley struck the post and the ball was cleared.
Ross County then dominated possession without creating any clear cut chances before Dylan McGeouch was sent off for a mistimed challenge with ten minutes remaining.
County did manage to put the ball into the net in the closing stages but the ‘goal’ was correctly ruled out for offside.
Hibs will discover their quarter final opponents when the draw is made tonight.
Afterwards a delighted Alan Stubbs told Hibernian TV: “First and foremost, I’m pleased for the players because they deserve all the credit.
“I’ve said before they’ve worked really hard since I’ve come in through the door.
“They’ve applied themselves really well and on a lot of occasions they haven’t got the rewards they’ve deserved.
“We tinkered with it a little bit and changed the formation and they’ve got what they deserved out of the game.
“We’ve scored two fantastic goals with two brilliant balls into the box and Dominique (Malonga) has finished them clinically.
“It’s nice when you bring a striker to the club and he manages to get goals.
“So from that point of view it’s very pleasing, it’s positive for the team and hopefully this can be the turning point we’ve been looking for.”
Hibs next game is against Rangers at Ibrox on Monday 29 September,
Ross County: Mark Brown, Jim Fenlon, Tim Dreesen, Ben Frempah, Graham Carey, Rocco Quinn, Jackson Irvine, Filip Kiss, Melvin De Leeuw, Joe Cardle, Yoann Arquin
Subs: Antonio Reguero, Richard Brittain, Jake Jervis, Darren Maatsen, Liam Boyce, Michael Gardyne, Jordi Balk.
Hibernian (3-5-2): Mark Oxley, Jordon Forster, Paul Hanlon, Liam Fontaine, David Gray, Dylan McGeouch, Scott Robertson, Liam Craig, Lewis Stevenson, Dominique Malonga (Heffernan 86), Jason Cummings (Allan 83).
Subs: Kleton Perntreou, Alex Harris, Paul Heffernan, Jake Sinclair, Scott Allan, Callum Booth, Matthew Kennedy
Referee: Stephen Finnie
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.
