Neil Lennon’s tenure as Hibs’ Head Coach began in dramatic style last night with a goal from Jason Cummings after only 12 seconds however the Northern Irishman had to be content with a draw after Berwick Rangers fought back to equalise midway through the first half at Shielfield Park.
Lennon’s first starting XI included youngsters Callum Crane and Alex Harris who spent last season on loan to Queen of the South and new signing Grant Holt.
The visitors got off to a sensational start when Harris and Holt combined to play the ball to Cummings whose shot flew under Rangers’ keeper Kevin Walker and into the back of the net.
Martin Boyle and John McGinn both struck the crossbar and Hibs’ domination resulted in a series of corners but they were unable to add to their lead.
Berwick levelled the scoring against the run of play in the 25th minute when Michael McKenna fired a shot through a sea of bodies and into the net from outside the box after the Hibs’ defenders failed to deal with a corner
The ‘wee Rangers’ then hit the bar twice before Holt passed up a chance to score on his debut just before the break.
Otso Virtanen replaced Mark Oxley and McGinn made way for Dylan McGeough for the second half.
Holt thought he had scored in the 50th minute when he headed home a Harris cross but the linesman flagged for offside.
Lennon made a series of substitutions and David Gray also went close with a header from a Harris corner but once again the ball rebounded off the bar and the danger was cleared and Hibs first pre-season outing ended in a 1-1 draw.
Hibs: Oxley (Virtanen, 45); Gray (Dunsmore, 81), McGregor (Porteous 81)`, Fontaine (Hanlon, 60), Crane (Stevenson, 60); Boyle (Carmichael, 67), Fyvie (Bartley, 67), McGinn (McGeough, 45), Harris (Stanton, 76); Holt (Shaw, 76), Cummings (Handling, 67).
Substitutes: Virtanen, Stevenson, Hanlon, Carmichael, McGeough, Handling, Bartley, Stanton, Dunsmore, Shaw, Porteous.
Referee: Gavin Duncan
Attendance: 1,304
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.
