Murray leads Hibs charge
THE scoreline — boosted by Simon Murray’s hat-trick — might not suggest it was the case but Hibernian made hard work of this tie. They may have put the result beyond doubt in under an hour but this was much more difficult for them than it ought to have been.
Even so, they now face a trip to Recreation Park on Saturday, safe in the knowledge that a win against Alloa will be enough to take them through to the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup.
They are still a work in progress but, as we are not yet out of July, they could hardly be anything else. There were, at least, signs of hope.
And Hibs boss Neil Lennon has revealed that Juventus midfielder Vykintas Slivka will join the club on a three-year deal.
The 22-year-old Lithuania international had been expected to move to Easter Road on a seasonlong loan but Lennon confirmed that the move will be permanent.
‘He may take a little time to bed in but he’s a decent player and it’s good business,’ he said.
‘Deivydas Matulevicius’ paperwork has also come through from the Belgian FA and talks with Anthony Stokes are ongoing.’
While not quite a must-win tie for the hosts, the Hibs supporters were well aware that a defeat would mean failure to qualify from the group — but that was not reflected in the attendance.
There was no shortage of urgency from the home players, though, who surged forward from the kick-off and swarmed around Ricky Gomes’ goal.
Arbroath relied heavily on the offside trap to frustrate the Premiership side but they looked to have got away with one in the sixth minute when Murray took the ball round the goalkeeper from Steven Whittaker’s pass only to be denied by a ridiculously late flag.
Yet six minutes later the visitors passed up a great opening of their own. Ryan McCord’s incisive through ball released Steven Doris but the striker fluffed his lines, directing his shot from 15 yards straight at Ross Laidlaw.
That miss came back to haunt them when Murray stayed onside to head David Gray’s inviting cross home from point-blank range.
Doris was out of luck again in the 20th minute when he fired into the side-netting after being teed up by Danny Denholm.
When Ryan Porteous was brought down inside the penalty area by Ricky Little just 60 seconds later, that also looked like a miss they would rue. However, Danny Swanson wastefully blazed over the bar from the spot.
It was the fourth penalty Hibs have missed in their three ties.
The midfielder’s finishing was no more accurate when Gomes could only block a netbound drive from Martin Boyle and the keeper did his best again, diving to his right to palm away Swanson’s effort.
While the traffic was mainly headed in the one direction, Arbroath still posed a threat and they caught Hibs napping with an equaliser in the 38th minute.
A short corner led to Bobby Linn lashing the ball across the face of the goal and Doris finally came good, diverting it behind Laidlaw from six yards.
Unfortunately for the League One side, they couldn’t hold out until the interval, Porteous beating Gomes with a downward header from John McGinn’s cross.
Arbroath came out with all guns blazing after the break, though, and it took a superb one-handed save from Laidlaw to deny Denholm.
However, two goals in as many minutes finally put the hosts in the driving seat.
The impressive Gray set up the first of them with a lungbursting run to the by-line and a cutback which was just begging to be put away by Murray.
It was Scotland midfielder McGinn who put the contest to bed in some style, though, curling a shot from 15 yards into Gomes’ top left-hand corner.
Swanson’s difficult evening continued when he was cautioned for scything down Denholm and he was substituted shortly afterwards.
Hibs began to relax and spray the ball around with confidence. Their superior fitness also helped them to monopolise possession against their tiring opponents during the closing stages.
Their pressure paid dividends two minutes from time when Porteous headed home, with Efe Ambrose providing an unlikely assist, before Murray completed his hat-trick at the death with an emphatic drive.