Hibernian U20s 4-2 Partick Thistle

A Sam Stanton (Pictured) hat-trick and a stunning strike from Matt Kennedy helped Hibs Under 20s to a convincing 4-2 SPFL Development League win over Partick Thistle at Ainslie Park last night.

Afterwards Under 20s Development Coach Joe McBride told Hibernian TV: “I’m pleased with the result, but I was more pleased with the reaction we got in the second half.

“We spoke at half-time about not playing at our normal intensity, with and without the ball, I think in the last two games here, without being too disrespectful to the teams we played, they were comfortable.

“Maybe the players thought they could go out onto the pitch and expect that to happen again, which it never.

“Thistle gave us a real tough game throughout, especially in the first half, but we lifted the intensity in the second half and scored three goals and limited Partick to very little shots on target.

“My words at halftime were: You’re in a real tough game tonight and I think we can all raise our game by 10-15% in everything that we do.

“That was for when we had the ball, without the ball, the way we pass the ball and challenges as we didn’t win enough second balls. We improved all round in the second half.”

Hibernian under-20s: Kleton Perntreou, Aaron Dunsmore, Callum Crane (Tom Gardiner, 39), Callum Booth, Jordan McGregor, Scott Martin, Alex Harris, Jake Sinclair, Lewis Allan, Matthew Kennedy (Taylor Hendry, 73), Sam Stanton (Jordan Sinclair, 73). Unused substitutes: Sean Brennan, Neil Martyniuk, Cody Mulhall, Max Todd.

Photo by John Preece