Hibernian B 1-1 Formartine United

Hibernian B 1-1 Formartine United

SPFL Trust Trophy

Wednesday 2nd August 2023

Hibernian’s B Team reached the next round of the SPFL Trust Trophy after this penalty shoot-out win over Formartine United.

Played at the worst stadium in Scotland (aka Meadowbank; the pitch might be nice but the rest of the stadium is absolutely honking), it was a close contest throughout the 90 minutes, before Hibs - with big Max Boruc between the sticks, progressed from the spot with Malik Zaid converting the winning penalty.

And the Hibees will now make the journey to Brechin City in a couple of weeks where the Highland League champions will be looking to complete a ‘double’ over both Edinburgh B teams having eliminated Hearts in Round One.

Having seen plenty of Hearts but not Hibernian at B Team level, I was intrigued to go to this game and learn more about the team in green. Remembering Hibs to be quite a direct and physical team (certainly that’s been the case at U18s level in the past few years), I was pleasantly surprised because the Hibees played out from the back quite a bit, moved the ball around well and played some decent stuff.

Hibs looked decent in the first half. Harry Wright (No.2) had a decent game at right-wing-back and was full of energy, Malik Zaid (No.20) was lively at times and both the front two; Josh Landers (No.9) and Rudi Molotnikov (No.10) posed a constant threat and made a really good impression. Molotnikov especially as he’s got a bit of physical strength and used his body well to create issues for Formartine.

After Darren McGregor (eligible to feature in this game as an over-age player) scared the living daylights out of everyone in the stand early on when he booted a ball straight out of play and onto the metal roof of the stand (and it didn’t half come down with a thud let me tell you), the Hibees probably had the best of the chances during the first 45 minutes.

Landers nearly broke through in the opening 10 minutes and was only denied when the Formartine ‘keeper rushed off his line and dropped his head to try and knock the ball clear, right at Landers’ boot which brought an end to that attack. Molotnikov showed his skill with a nonchalant swivel inside the box to open up space for a shot which he hammered goalwards only to be denied by the ‘keeper and from a free-kick which I think was his (apologies if I’m wrong) he was also unlucky but forced a stop.

Formartine’s initial best chance came midway through the half. They won a free-kick on the edge of the box in a VERY dangerous position. The distance was about 20 yards, there was a nice little angle on it which favoured a right-footer, and when the effort was unleashed the ball skimmed the upright by a whisker and nestled on the roof of the net. Very close indeed!

The visitors came into the game more just before half-time; having a bit of territory and possession in a couple of minutes preceding their opener. They won a free-kick, wide of the box, and when the taker spotted a gap at Boruc’s near-post and with just one Hibs player in the wall (everyone clearly expecting a floated delivery towards the back-post), he hit a low drive which surprised everybody and crept into the bottom corner.

Hibs’ response was good though and before half-time they leveled things up as Josh Landers got his head to a corner and powered it goalwards and even though Formartine’s defender tried his best to keep it out, the ball only ricocheted off him and into the back of the net - a great time to equalise as the half-time whistle was imminent.

The hosts continued to look bright early in the second half. Robbie Hamilton (No.19) forced a save as Formarine were initially pushed back and Malik Zaid was involved in some decent bits of play in and around the area, but another goal remained elusive and the game gradually developed into a very tight affair.

Towards the end of the second half, Hibernian created a couple more chances. Landers was played through in one instance and with time and space inside the box, he looked odds on to score until Formartine’s No.7 came sliding in with a last-ditch challenge to deny him - and then pleaded for a goal-kick too. Then, not too long afterwards, Landers got through again - had time and space to run at defender and unleashed a stinging effort from the edge of the box which rattled the upright and still it remained 1-1.

Max Boruc also made a couple of stops at the other end to ensure Formartine didn’t snatch a late winner either - and there was another free-kick to the visitors which provided a nervous moment in the second half as well that whistled just an inch or two wide, but in the end - after four minutes of injury-time and no more goals, it went to penalties.

Given the respective height of the two ‘keepers; Max Boruc looking like a giant in comparison to his Highland League counterpart, you’d have probably favoured Hibernian at this point and after both teams converted their first spot-kick, Formartine’s taker sent the ball wide of the post - thus giving the poor old ball boy a long trek to retrieve it, and Hibs subsequently went 2-1 up from their next kick.

With the advantage gained, Boruc then dived full-stretch to his right to deny Formartine’s next taker; Hibs made it 3-1, Formartine scored, before Malik Zaid stepped up and slotted home the decisive penalty to ensure the young Hibees go to Brechin in Round Two.

Overall, despite being 32,637 miles away from the Meadowbank Stadium pitch (well done to Edinburgh Council for completely messing up the redevelopment of this place - some effort lads because it’s honking nowadays compared to how it once was), I was impressed with a few of the Hibs players individually, and notably the football they played, how they moved it around and used the width well. They (just about) deserved to win although Formartine were by no means a bad team.

Rudi Molotnikov and Josh Landers were both decent and worthy of a goal apiece; that was evident from early on and I’ll remember those two from this game, Malik Zaid (although not everything came off) is clearly a bright and technical player with the ability to make something happen and he’ll be buzzing off scoring the winning penalty, Robbie Hamilton (No.19) offered plenty of energy and had some good spells where he really came into the game, and Harry Wright (No.2) had a really positive first half with lots of positive contributions; offensively with his link-up play high up the pitch and crosses (top work) and also defensively because his little header under pressure stopped Formartine from scoring with an otherwise free header in the initial phase of play just before the free-kick which actually led to their opener. Jay McGarva (No.11) also looked good and I'd probably want to watch him specifically at some point to learn more about what he can do.

Good luck to these lads in Round Two and it’ll be interesting to see how they handle the infamous Glebe Park slope and how Brechin’s defence - which had a tendency to drop deep at times the other night against Hearts, handles the Hibs frontline.

Team: Max Boruc, Kanayo Megwa, Darren McGregor, Oscar MacIntyre, Harry Wright, Jay McGarva, Alfie Wright, Robbie Hamilton, Malik Zaid, Rudi Molotnikov, Josh Landers. Subs: Owens, McGrath, Bulloch, McAllister, MacIntyre, Calder.