Hibs smash eight past Bonnyrigg
BONNYRIGG ROSE 1 Hoskins (pen, 34) HIBERNIAN 8 Shinnie (11), Keatings (19, 77), Humphrey (24), Cummings (51, 71), Stevenson (61), Forster (81)
JORDON FORSTER wasn’t that bothered about scoring his first Hibs goal for two-and-a-half years.
The defender was just delighted to have started the defence of the Scottish Cup without a slip-up.
After waiting 114 years to win the trophy, there was understandable anxiety about kicking off a new campaign against Junior side Bonnyrigg Rose.
The nerves disappeared within minutes and the Hibees went on to smash eight goals past the minnows.
Forster said: “It was a professional job. You look at Liverpool squeezing past Plymouth by a goal over two games when there’s a big gulf.
“Bonnyrigg were pumped up in the first five minutes, it was their Cup Final.
“They’d beaten Dumbarton so we gave them respect.
“We can only fail in a game like this but we have to deal with that pressure to protect what’s ours just now.”
There was a bit of a Hibs-Hearts undercurrent about the match, with it being played at Tynecastle and the strong suspicion that a number of Jambos’ fans were there to cheer on Bonnyrigg.
Mischievous chants of “We want seven” came from the Hibees end when they went two ahead – a reference to their 7-0 victory at the ground in the New Year’s Day Edinburgh derby of 1973. Their favourites surpassed that total but at least the home side had a goal to cheer this time.
The Junior side’s consolation was a penalty converted by Dean Hoskins — an award that really shouldn’t have been made.
Keiran McGachie looked like he decided to go down as soon as he felt Jordon Forster’s breath on his neck.
The man who converted the kick, Dean Hoskins, admitted he lost count of the score at one point.
He said: “I’m a Hearts fan and it was good to score against their biggest rivals. But there was a big gulf in class.
“What was it in the end? I lost count after five! 8-1 is probably the right result.”
Easter Road boss Neil Lennon wasn’t entirely happy.
He said: “We went 3-0 up and then got sloppy. We stopped moving the ball quickly and took too many touches.
“That’s something you have to eradicate no matter who you’re playing.
“We got the response we asked for in the second half and scored five good goals.”
Hibs’ goals were a Shinnie long-range shot that should have been saved, a curler and follow-up from Keatings, a Humphrey closerange effort, a scissors kick and an easy follow-up from Cumming, a Stevenson tap-in and the Forster header.
Lennon’s opposite number, Robbie Horn, tried his best to stay upbeat as he analysed his side’s thrashing.
He said: “The plan was to try to keep it tight for about 25 minutes and take it from there, but by then we were 3-0 down.
“I thought we had a fair shout for a penalty when it was 3-1 and that might have made a difference.
“We defend better than this in the Juniors.
“But we’ve had a good run and want to get back to this stage again.”