A late goal from substitute Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo denied Hibs a victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a frenetic and hard fought Scottish Cup quarter final at Easter Road this afternoon.
James Keatings gave Hibs the lead shortly after half time but despite dominating possession, the home side were unable to hold on for the victory and the pair have to meet again to determine who joins Rangers, Celtic and Dundee United in the last four.
Head Coach Alan Stubbs was able to field a strong team despite losing Paul Hanlon, Marvin Bartley and Jason Cummings through suspension and Fraser Fyvie due to injury.
He made three changes to the starting XI that lost to Queen of the South in midweek; Kevin Thomson replaced Bartley, James Keatings replaced Cummings and Dylan McGeouch returned from injury to replace Martin Boyle.
Youngsters Oli Shaw and Callum Donaldson were listed amongst the substitutes.
Former Hibs’ captain and manager John ‘Yogi’ Hughes made one change to the team that lost to Hearts on Tuesday night with Ross Draper returning to the defence in place of Lewis Horner.
Inverness started brightly and forced four early corners before Hibs almost took the lead in the 10th minute. A Liam Henderson free-kick found David Gray unmarked inside the area but the full back’s header was well saved by Owain Fon-Williams. The ball fell to Liam Fontaine who looked sure to score but somehow the ball was cleared after a ‘stramash’.
Moments later Hibs had the ball in the net after Anthony Stokes displayed some fine skill to set up a shot but his effort was tipped onto the post by Fon-Williams. Keatings was first to react to the rebound and he slotted the ball into the goal but he was ruled to have been in an offside position.
There was an injury scare in the 24th minute when McGeouch was forced to leave the field with a groin strain leaving him in doubt for the League Cup Final next week. He was replaced by Niklas Gunnarsson and Stubbs changed the formation to a 3-5-2.
Two minutes later Hibs should have had a penalty kick when Liam Henderson was tripped on the line but Crawford Allan took the easy option and awarded a free kick.
The referee then incurred the wrath of the Hibs’ fans by a series of strange decisions all of which went against the home side and he was roundly booed off the field at half time.
Hibs started the second period on the front foot and created three early chances. In the 49th minute another penalty claim was denied when a Keating’s flick struck a defenders arm.
Five minutes later Hibs took a deserved lead. Stokes did well to hold up the ball before sending a defence splitting pass into the path of Gray. The skipper had time to look up before sliding the ball into the path of Keatings who fired the ball home from 8 yards to the delight of the home supporters.
Tempers started to fray and both Gary Warren and Greg Tansey were both booked within minutes of each other.
Henderson passed up the chance to double Hibs’ advantage but his shot from the edge of the area went well over.
With 20 minutes remaining Hughes made a double substitution that was to pay dividends. Horner and Mutombo replaced Liam Polwarth and Iain Vigurs as the holders refused to give up possession of the cup without a fight.
Caley eventually equalised in the 76th minute when Horner chased what appeared to be a lost cause and managed to cut the ball back from the byline. The ball fell to Jordan Roberts who set up Mutombo and the striker fired home from six yards.
Both teams had chances in the closing stages but the game ended all square.
After the game Stubbs said: “We probably just did enough but it was a close game. Ox (Mark Oxley) did not have a save to make. Inverness are a good strong team but we just shaded it.”
The draw for the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals will me made later this evening.
Hibs: Oxley, Gray, McGregor, Fontaine, Stevenson, Thomson, McGeouch, McGinn, Henderson, Keatings, Stokes. Subs: Virtanen, El Alagui, Boyle, Dagnall, Gunnarsson, Shaw, Donaldson
Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Roberts, Devine, Tansey, Williams, Polwarth, Vigurs, Storey. Subs Esson, Williams, Foran, Wedderburn, Horner, Hughes, Mbuyi-Mutombo
Referee Crawford Allan
Attendance 10,884
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.
