Ayr United 1
Hibernian 1 (4-2 on pens)
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Match Report

A split Hibs team made the journey west to face Ayr United at Somerset park and a first half goal from Garry O’Connor sent the young Hibees in at the break with a lead, however Ayr United made some changes at the start of the second period and caused the Hibs defence a few problems as they fought back to level the score after 90 minutes before winning the tie 4-2 on penalty kicks.

Hibs flew out of the traps in the opening 20 minutes and should have had the game sewn up. For the first 5 minutes, both sides were looking to find their passing game but it was Hibs who created the first real chance when Michael Stewart slipped the ball through the Ayr back line and O’Connor raced in to drill a powerful shot towards goal, McGeown made a great save to deny the Hibs hit man but only succeeded in palming the ball into the path of Stewart who had continued his run. The ball bounced up and Stewart hit a first time volley which flew over the bar.

O’Connor had a further chance after 3 minutes later, this time a short corner by McCluskey was sent to Kevin Thomson and the midfielder beat two men on the left wing before sending a cross into the 6 yard area. O’Connor under pressure rose highest to head the ball towards the goal, unfortunately his header was misdirected and over the Ayr bar. Hibs continued to dominate and with 11 minutes gone Jamie McCluskey jinked down the right hand side of the pitch leaving three Ayr players in his wake, his cross to O’Connor did not match the initial skill and the Ayr keeper came out to collect before O’Connor could do any damage.

Hibs were now attacking at will and Ayr lost possession in midfield with a sloppy pass, O’Connor ran back into the midfield area to claim the ball and he quickly looked up to see Konte making a forward run. The pass was perfect and Konte collected the ball in his stride and made off towards the Ayr goal, a defender managed to keep pace with Konte and eventually managed to force him wide - but the striker took his shot and the ball drifted past the post much to the relief of the Ayr keeper. Hibs then took a deserved 14th minute lead with a superb headed goal from O’Connor, this coming courtesy of some good football down the Ayr right hand side by Kevin Thomson. He collected the ball and made his way past 2 Ayr players, creating himself some space before looking up to see O’Connor inside the 6 yard box. His cross was perfect and O’Connor jumped high and directed his header past McGeown and into the net.

The Hibs defence for the day were made up of three youngsters with the experienced head at the back being Gary Smith. Under his guidance the youngsters were listening and gaining that valuable experience which will help them in their career’s. Jamie McKenzie was playing at centre back and he showed the Hibs fans that he is another player with a bright future when after 19 minutes Ayr had their first real attack on the Hibs goal. Varielle played in Nolan on the edge of the Hibs area and as he drove into the box McKenzie followed and rather than diving in with a challenge, the youngster waited until the shot came and threw himself in the way to block at the expense of a corner.

Ayr had a bright spell for 5 minutes and threatened the Hibs goal on a few occasions, the first was a Varielle shot which was saved on the line by Zibi who had positioned himself correctly, seconds later Hyslop hit a tame shot across the Hibs area which the Polish keeper ushered out. Another cross into the Hibs area was rescued by Shields at the back post and the youngster under pressure from two Ayr players kept his nerve and calmly cleared his lines.
Hibs then got back on track and Stewart ran straight through the Ayr back line and squared the ball for O’Connor in the centre of the penalty box, Campbell dived in with his tackle and succeeded in trapping the ball in between his legs until his keeper came to collect and denying O’Connor a second goal. Michael Stewart was looking dangerous at times in the Hibs midfield as his off the ball run’s created space for his fellow team-mates to find another route through to goal.

With 15 minutes remaining of the first half, the game fell into a lull with both sides managing to attack but the defences standing firm. Tony Mowbray could be heard barking out orders to his players as they looked to create further openings and after 37 minutes a cross into the Ayr box saw Konte rise to flick the ball towards the back post, with McCluskey ready to pull the trigger, Campbell managed to get a leg in and deflect it over the bar. The resulting corner saw O’Connor jump highest to flick on to McKenzie at the back post this time but the youngster could only direct his shot back into the melee of players inside the area and Ayr managed to clear their lines.

With 5 minutes of the first half remaining Hibs applied more pressure, Konte should have made it two when he collected the ball inside the Ayr box from a Murray pass and instead of hitting the first time effort he took and extra touch to get better control but this had given the Ayr defence time to block his route to goal. With a minute remaining, McCluskey was fouled 25 yards from goal on the Hibs right, Stewart and Thomson converged over the ball and the former Hearts man ran over the ball, Thomson then stepped up and curled in the free kick which shot over the Ayr keeper but unfortunately rebounded off the crossbar and post. This was to be the last noticeable action of the half and the referee blew for the interval.

Half-time: Ayr United 0 Hibernian 1

Hibs made no changes to the starting eleven as the came out for the second half, Ayr however made two changes to their team as they looked to find the equalizer and get them back into the game. Within 5 minutes of the restart it was apparent that Ayr had a hunger for the game and they looked more determined as they brought the game to Hibs and good work from right back Jay Shields stopped substitute Wardlaw from squaring thing’s up. Wardlaw had only Zibi Malkowski in the Hibs goal to beat but Shields rushed back in support of his keeper and made a timely tackle to knock the ball out for a corner to Ayr.

imageWith neither midfield managing to keep hold off possession and repeatedly giving the ball away, Jay Shields decided to grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and burst forward towards the Ayr box, he slid a pass through to McCluskey who managed to take the ball round the advancing McGeown but his cross back into the 6 yard box found no takers and the ball was eventually cleared for a goal kick.

Ayr made a further substitution on the hour as they looked to try and get back into the game. Hibs made their first changes of the match 4 minutes later when Darren Smith replace Antonio Murray and Ryan Pow replaced Jamie McCluskey. Within a minute of the changes Hibs showed some SPL class as they turned defence into attack in an instant, Ayr had a corner which Konte cleared, he followed his header up to slide the ball through to O’Connor on the right hand side of the pitch inside his own half and he made a powerful run up the wing, with Thomson and Pow racing through the middle and left, O’Connor looked up and switched the play to Thomson on the left. Konte who had made the initial clearance in defence had maintained his run forward but Thomson’s cross was cut out by an Ayr defender and cleared before the Mali man could get on the end of it.

Ayr hit straight back and managed to find the equalizer after 66 minutes, Hyslop won the ball from Pow in midfield and then won a tackle against Gary Smith, he ran through with only Malkowski to beat but the big Pole stood firm and pulled off a fantastic save to deny the Ayr player from point blank range, the ball however only went as far as Cashmore who drove the ball back across the area and Hyslop was at the far post to re-direct the ball into the net to give Ayr the equalizer they had been fighting hard for.

Ayr made a final substitution after 72 minutes and had a further chance to take the lead when Templeton crossed into the Hibs area and Cashmore created space to try a scissors kick but his shot was too high and went over the crossbar. Hibs made a change with 15 minutes remaining when Tomatula come on to replace O’Connor who had been his usual self and had been up and down the pitch in support of his midfield and defence when needed and 5 minutes later Stewart had to walk off the pitch after feeling unwell, he was replaced by Ross Chisholm.

Ayr were looking the more likely to snatch a winner as they push forward with Cashmore being their creative player and they nearly snatched the winner when a midfield ball was played through and Wardlaw created a space for the shot but Gary Smith using his experience blocked well allowing the ball to trickle through to Malkowski who then set Hibs quickly away with a long throw to Thomson.

With penalties looming to decide the outcome of the match and with only 4 minutes remaining Hibs pushed forward winning two corners in succession before shots from Chisholm and Shields were saved by McGeown to deny the Easter Road side. In the final minute Reid had a superb chance to seal the match for Ayr with a chip over Zibi although the Hibs keeper had it covered. Hibs immediately went up the other end of the park and Tomatula was unlucky not to nip in front of McGeown to snatch a late Hibs winner.

For the second time in a pre-season friendly this summer, penalty kicks were used to decide the match with a commemorative trophy on offer. As in Cork, Hibs unfortunately did not do so well from the spot, the home side eventually lifting the silverware with a 4-2 win on penalties.

Match report written by Hibernian FC Official Website