First Team
TEAM NEWS | PARTICK THISTLE (H)
3rd May 2024
DUNDEE UNITED 0
HIBERNIAN 2
CINCH RESERVE LEAGUE CUP
14:00 TUESDAY 17TH JANUARY
GUSSIE PARK
Dundee United B welcomed Hibernian to Gussie Park as they looked to extend their unbeaten run in the cinch Reserve League Cup to four matches.
Line-Up
Brian Grant and Andy Payne made five alterations to the line-up which began last week’s draw with Livingston.
Adam Hutchinson played in the middle of a back trio flanked by 17-year-old Arron Donald on the left and Layton Bisland on the right.
Stirling Albion loanee Flynn Duffy and Bryan Mwangi began in the wing-back slots, whilst Finn Robson anchored the midfield behind Craig Moore and attack-minded Declan Glass.
Darren Watson, still recovering from a long-term foot injury, and Miller Thomson were the hosts’ attacking outlets up top.
Hibernian could feel slightly aggrieved not to have had the opportunity to break the deadlock from the spot after just seven minutes when Josh O’Connor, son of Hibs legend Gary, was bundled to the deck by Donald - a challenge on the line between a shoulder barge and push not attracting the referee’s attention.
Tentative
The opening exchanges proved a barren spell for chance creation, with both sides tentatively feeling each other out, not keen to over-commit bodies forward in search of an opener.
Declan Glass was presented with the opportunity to wind up a strike after a loose touch from Malik Zaid in the centre of the park but couldn’t keep his long-range effort beneath the crossbar.
It was then United’s turn to be denied what looked to be a stonewall penalty with 16 minutes on the clock.
Flying wingback Duffy charged down the left and delivered an inch-perfect cross into the middle for Watson who collected with his back to goal before being wrestled to the turf - once again tangible claims for a spot-kick waived away by the officials.
Full Focus Required
O’Connor continued to be a handful both in and out of possession for the United backline to deal with, continuously looking to run across the back three and spin in behind to receive searching passes in behind from a well-drilled midfield who understood exactly the threat posed by their number nine.
The closest the Edinburgh outfit came in the opening 45 minutes was Jacob Blaney’s cross-cum-shot which whistled past Jack Newman’s far post after a frantic scramble in the area.
On the half-hour mark, Glass managed to buy time and space to deliver a cross to the back stick with sharp footwork on the right flank. His looping ball was nodded back into the middle by Watson for Moore making up ground from deep but the U18s captain found his shot crowded out.
After receiving lengthy treatment for what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder, Hutchinson’s first actions after re-entering the field of play saw him inadvertently pass the ball straight to pressing midfielder Aiken who in turn fed colleague O’Connor in the area.
The Hibs frontman executed a sharp turn to escape the clutches of his marker before unleashing a vicious, low effort which Newman was equal to with his feet.
Attacking Impetus Brings The Opener
After the restart, both teams began to show much higher levels of attacking impetus, and it would be the visitors who managed to draw first blood on 55 minutes.
A sweeping counter-attack from left to right culminated in Ethan Laidlaw receiving the ball at the corner of the box. The 18-year-old played a sharp one-two with Zaid before nonchalantly steering the ball into the far corner past the despairing dive of Newman at full stretch.
United looked for an instant response and were agonisingly close to it as Mwangi’s fabulous corner bounced inside the six-yard box, evading the onrushing Bisland at the back post by millimetres.
Mercurial winger Watson managed to carve out an opportunity from nothing when he breached the Hibs defence with powerful running down the left.
This gave him the opportunity to find Thomson in space inside the area with a cut-back from the byline, but the 17-year-old took a split second too long to pull the trigger and his eventual shot deflected wide off Owen Hastie.
Pushing For The Leveller
United failed to capitalise on another teasing delivery from Mwangi as the wide man managed to pick out Watson unmarked at the back post whose miscued effort from close-range drifted harmlessly wide.
Substitute Emmanuelle Johnson had two chances to double his side’s lead shortly after coming on, first forcing Newman into action from an acute angle with a well-struck effort on the counter, then blasting an O’Connor cutback into Neish Street with the goal at his mercy.
Grant and Payne utilised the bench in the closing stages, giving U18s regulars Stuart Heenan, Sean Borland and Keir Bertie a run out.
Points Heading To The Capital
Hibs would wrap up the points however with five minutes to play.
After a soft foul on the edge of the D, O’Connor’s low, whipped free-kick was spilled by Newman and Laidlaw was on hand touch home the rebound, securing his brace and the win at Gussie.
Teamlines
United: Newman, Bisland, Duffy, Hutchinson, Donald, Robson, Mwangi, Moore, Watson, Glass, Thomson (Adams, Bertie, Heenan, Carnwath, Borland, Domeracki)
Hibernian: Schofield, Megwa, O.MacIntyre, Hastie, Blaney, Hamilton, J.MacIntyre, Aiken, O'Connor, Zaid, Laidlaw (Khan, M.Johnson. E.Johnson, Molotnikov, MacAllister, Smith, Wright)
