Hibs Through To Round Two

Hibs eased into the second round of the Scottish League Cup with a simple victory over League Two outfit Montrose.

The home side were rarely threatened by a side who finished bottom of the 42 clubs who compile the Scottish Leagues and the gulf in quality was evident throughout the 90 minutes.

Alan Stubbs side played the game in first gear and although they scored three times, there was a lack of edge to the team performance which will need to be considerably better prior to next weekend’s match against Dumbarton.

Due to injuries, Hibs lined up in an unfamiliar 4-5-1 system which saw Marvin Bartley make his debut following his arrival from Leyton Orient and Alex Harris return to the starting line up in place of Jordan Forster and Dom Malonga with the enforced changes the only ones from last weekend’s defeat to Rangers.

A first period mainly played at walking pace saw young Scott Martin score his first goal for the club in only his second start whilst the only other worthwhile effort saw Cummings fire an effort side of the target.

Despite only going in ahead by a goal at the interval, Hibs were clearly in control of the match but found it hard to penetrate in the final third with the visitors keeping ten men behind the ball at all times.

Scott Allan was introduced to the fray just after the hour mark and received a generous welcome from the home support although there were a few dissenting voices from a certain section of the East Stand.

It didn’t take last season’s Championship player of the year long to make his mark on the occasion and he claimed his side’s second goal of the game with twenty minutes left with a fine strike from twenty yards out.

Striker Jason Cummings was to net a third with eight minutes to go when he fired in from a rebound from another Allan effort and seal an easy win.