Kieron Bowie and Josh Mulligan both put in impressive performances in Hibs 3-0 victory over Falkirk at Easter Road, doing their potential World Cup chances no harm.
David Gray made two changes to his starting XI both of which were forced. Nicky Cadden and Jordan both suffered injuries against Celtic last week and were replaced by Jack Iredale and Dan Barlaser.
Hibs started on the front foot and Iredale did well to dribble past defenders but Scott Bain did well to block his shot.
Former Hibs player Dylan Tait was the first name in the book for chopping down Josh Mulligan.
Falkirk looked content to hit on the break and Brian Graham found Brad Spencer on the edge of the box. Raphael Sallinger gets a hand to his shot and the ball fell to Ethan Williams who hit the side-netting from a very tight angle.
Leon McCann then joined Tait in the book for pulling Mulligan’s shirt to deny a break away.
And that was quickly followed by a booking for Calvin Miller who cynically tripped Mulligan.
Hibs took a deserved lead in the 36th minute. The impressive Mulligan slid a fine through ball into the path of Martin Boyle who was brought down by Philip Lissah.
The referee pointed to the spot and a VAR check confirmed the penalty.
Boyle took responsibility and fired the ball straight down the middle to open the scoring.
Just before the break Hibs doubled their lead when Bowie controlled a Jamie McGrath pass intended for Chris Cadden. He shifted the ball from his right foot to his left and curled a shot past Bain.
Falkirk started the second-half with intensity and Raphael Sallinger was twice called into action to deny Falkirk efforts before Hibs wrapped things up with 10-minutes remaining.
Substitute Josh Campbell fired a low cross and Bowie got across his marker to score from close range.
After the final whistle Gray told BBC Scotland: “Really positive. Everything I asked the players to do, I saw. They were on the front foot, real dominant performance, first half.
“Second half, credit to Falkirk, they had a real go and were more direct at times. We got the third goal at a good time.
“We will play better than we did in the second half, but at the same time they showed resilience, kept a clean sheet and we’ve given ourselves a good platform to build on.
“I don’t like singling players out, but Josh [Mulligan] set the tone. His performance was excellent, with and without the ball. His desire to run forward and play with that intensity, and he deserved the man of the match.”
Hibs: Sallinger, C Cadden, O’Hora, Bushiri, Iredale, Mulligan, Chaiwa, McGrath, Barlaser, Bowie, Boyle.
Substitutes: Smith, Hanley, Levitt, Youan, Newell, Hoilett, Mitchell, Megwa, Campbell.
Falkirk: Bain, Lissah, Allan, Henderson, McCann, Spencer, Tait, Ross, Williams, Miller, Graham.
Substitutes: Hogarth, Hart, Yeats, Agyeman, Edwards, Samuel-Ogunsuyi, Arfield, Wilson, Cartwright.
