Opinion: Montrose Aftermath

Hibs will rarely have an easier afternoons work than the one which saw them overcome third tier outfit Montrose on Saturday and it was difficult to gauge where the side stands in terms of match fitness and form such was the one sided nature of the encounter.

Despite the lack of a contest there were some positives to take from the match.

Marvin Bartley made his debut for the club and looked assured on the ball during his hour or so on the park and certainly looked capable of putting in a shift for his side.

The Londoner looks to have a decent first touch and produced two well timed sliding challenges during the match but he’ll face tougher opposition in the weeks to come.

Sam Stanton was another who impressed and the youngster was certainly my man of the match after showing some excellent skill on occasion and regardless of the standard of player he was facing, he will definitely take a confidence boost from his overall display.

The return of Scott Allan after his transfer request was thrown out during the week was always going to spark a response amongst the support but thankfully the majority of the fans cheered his entrance to the match to drown out the boos of the minority.

His half hour cameo added an impetus previously missing from Hibs and his goal was well taken and showed he can still be an important player as the club look to challenge for the title.

Disappointingly Lewis Stevenson is yet to show his full qualities and has been poor in his two outings against Rangers and Montrose over the past couple of weekends.

The popular Fifer will need to work hard over the coming weeks if he wishes to hold down the left full/wing back role he made his own last season and in particular work on his final ball.

All in all, Saturday saw as easy a victory for Hibs as we’ll see all season and whilst it was neither a good nor bad overall performance it’s clear there’s plenty left in the tank with players such as new boy John McGinn, Farid El Alagui, Martin Boyle, Dan Carmichael, Jordan Forster and James Keatings as well as Dom Malonga all still to return to the ranks.