Second half goals from Darren McGregor and Dominique Malonga gave Hibs a comfortable 2-0 win over Raith Rovers in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup at a windy Starks Park in Kirkcaldy this afternoon.
Head Coach Alan Stubbs made three changes to the starting XI that beat today’s opponents Raith Rovers last Saturday at Easter Road. Goalscorer Jason Cummings made way for new signing Chris Dagnall whilst James Keatings replaced on-loan youngster Liam Henderson in midfield and Stubbs’ second signing of the January window Niklas Gunnarsson took over from captain David Gray.
Youngsters Sean Brennan and Oli Shaw were promoted from the Development Squad to the bench.
A large travelling support crossed the Forth Road Bridge hoping that this will be the year when Hibs finally end their 113 year Scottish Cup hoodoo.
Last week’s game ended with tempers frayed and time proved to be no healer as Ross Callachan was deservedly shown a yellow card for scything down John McGinn in the 6th minute.
Referee Willie Collum allowed several similar challenges from both teams to go unpunished in a hard fought, competitive first half where no clear cut chances were made. Hibs fans however did see some evidence of Gunnarsson’s trademark long throw.
Once again Stubbs’ half time talk paid dividends and after a scrappy few minutes he made two substitutions which immediately changed to course of the game. McGregor replaced the tiring Gunnarsson then Henderson replaced Bartley as Hibs looked to win the game at the first attempt.
Dagnall almost opened the scoring with a superb shot which produced a fine save from Kevin Cuthbert who managed to get his fingertips to the ball, tipping it over the bar for a corner.
On the hour mark Hibs took a deserved lead when substitute Henderson set Lewis Stevenson clear on the left wing. The Kirkcaldy born full back then sent a low powerful cross into the danger area, the ball eluded everyone and McGregor took the ball in his stride and smashed a right foot shot into the bottom corner of the net, sparking jubilation from the Hibs’ fans.
Two minutes later Malonga doubled Hibs’ advantage with a sensational right foot strike from the edge of the penalty area which curled into the top left hand corner of the net leaving Cuthbert stranded.
Malonga was replaced by Martin Boyle with 10 minutes remaining and the striker left the field to a well-deserved standing ovation from the traveling support.
Dagnall, who had worked tirelessly throughout went close just before full time but his effort was deflected for a corner as Hibs held on to secure a place in the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
The draw will take place at 6.15pm on Monday live on Sky Sports News.
Raith Rovers: Cuthbert, Callachan, Benedictus, Davidson, Megginson, Matthews, Daly, Bates, McKeown, Craigen, Robertson, Subs: Law, Petrie, Anderson, Ellis, Ford, McCord, Court
Hibs: Oxley, Gunnarsson, Hanlon, Fontaine, Stevenson, Bartley, McGeouch, McGinn, Keatings, Malonga, Dagnall. Subs: Brennan, Henderson, McGregor, Boyle, Forster, Shaw, Anier.
Referee Willie Collum
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.
