Hibs cruised into the second round of the League Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Montrose at Easter Road this afternoon.
It’s been an eventful week for the Hibs’ faithful. After a heavy defeat to Rangers in the Petrofac Training Cup there was more doom and gloom with the news that Scott Allan had handed in a transfer request however the board were quick to react and issue a statement saying that the talisman midfielder would not be sold to their Championship rivals.
The mood changed however when Alan Stubbs and his coaching staff all agreed to extend their contracts then the week ended with an exciting new signing, John McGinn who joined the club on a four year deal having left previous club St Mirren in the summer.
Head Coach Stubbs made two changes to the starting XI that lost to Rangers last weekend with new signing Marvin Bartley replacing the injured Jordon Forster and Alex Harris taking over up front from Dominique Malonga.
Allan had to be content with a place on the bench alongside academy youngsters Aaron Dunsmore, Callum Crane, Jordan Sinclair, Lewis Allan and 17 year old Development Squad player Oli Shaw who was making his debut outing with the first team squad.
Hibs started brightly but had an early scare when Ross Campbell beat the offside trap but good work from Mark Oxley and Bartley cleared the danger.
The home side dominated possession with the visitors managed by Edinburgh’s Paul Hegarty happy to sit back and defend.
Hibs almost took the lead midway through the first half when Jason Cummings unleashed a powerful strike from 20 yards but the ball flew inches wide.
In the 27th minute, Allan received a warm round of applause as he warmed up in front of the Famous Five stand, then Ross Salmon produced a superb save from a Cummings effort as Hibs pressed.
Hibs eventually took a deserved lead in the 32nd minute after Harris picked the ball up on the left wing before cutting inside and sliding the ball to Martin who calmly side footed the ball into the net from 12 yards, his first goal for the club.
The second half started with Easter Road surrounded with seagulls as if each Montrose supporter had smuggled one into the ground and released them at the break.
Hibs continued to dominate possession with Sam Stanton twice going close before Stubbs made the substitution that the fans were waiting on when Allan replaced the impressive Bartley. Both players received warm applause from the home stands along with some booing from the away end.
The introduction of Allan made an instant impact and within three minutes he set up Stanton whose powerful strike was tipped round the post.
Two minutes later Allan doubled Hibs lead after a long ball from Paul Hanlon was controlled by Lewis Stevenson who found Allan in the penalty area. The midfielder did well to shake off his marker before firing the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net, sparking celebrations from the fans.
In the 74th minute, Oli Shaw replaced Alex Harris to make his debut then Jordan Sinclair came on from Sam Stanton.
Allan then went close with two other efforts before birthday boy Jason Cummings wrapped things up in the 81st minute. A Stanton corner was chested down by Fontaine at the back post and the defender found Cummings who fired the ball into the net from eight yards.
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, Hanlon, Fontaine, Bartley, Fyvie, Stanton, Stevenson, Harris, Cummings, Martin. Subs Reguero, S Allan, Dunsmore, Crane, Sinclair, L Allan, Shaw
Montrose: Salmon, Ferguson, Steeves, McCord, Reoch, Allan, Johnston, Watson, Fraser, Campbell, Webster. Subs Kenneth, Masson Milne, Reid, McLeod, Wilcox, Butter
Referee John Beaton
Attendance 5933
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.
