Hibernian Edges Past Partick Thistle in Premier Sports Cup
Owen Elding’s early strike was enough to drag Hibernian into the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup, but they were made to sweat every inch of the way by a stubborn, spirited Partick Thistle in a tight 1-0 win.
Elding at the back post, Hibs out of the blocks
Any fears of a European hangover vanished almost immediately. Four days after a gruelling midweek trip to North Macedonia to see off Shkendija and reach the Conference League play-offs, David Gray’s side came out sharp, not sluggish.
Kanayo Megwa, Jack Iredale, Joe Newell and Jamie McGrath were drafted in to freshen the team and the impact was instant. Inside five minutes, Hibs carved Thistle open. McGrath slid a clever pass in behind, Elding burst through, and only the spread of Liam McFarlane’s legs stopped the forward opening the scoring.
The warning wasn’t heeded.
On 12 minutes, Iredale hit the byline and whipped a vicious ball across the six-yard box. It flashed past defenders and found Elding lurking at the back post, the striker tapping home his third goal of the season. Simple finish. Ruthless movement. Hibs, fully on top.
At that point, it looked like a long night for Thistle.
Missed chances keep Thistle alive
Instead of folding, Kris Doolan’s side dug in. They denied Hibs the space that had cut them open in the opening spell and slowly dragged the contest into a scrap.
Hibs still carried the greater threat. Thistle midfielder Oisin Smyth saw a deflected effort slip wide as they searched for a foothold, but most of the danger came at the other end.
McFarlane, on loan from Hearts and facing a club he will see plenty of this season, produced a string of saves that kept the tie alive. He reacted superbly to tip Elding’s close-range effort on to the bar, then stood big to block from Nathan Lowe with his feet moments later.
The pattern held into the second half. Hibs pressed for the cushion goal. Mayor forced McFarlane into another stop, the goalkeeper pushing his strike behind.
The pressure should have told on 58 minutes. Lowe picked out Elding with a raking pass that sliced Thistle open, but the forward’s heavy touch let him down and McFarlane dived bravely at his feet to smother. The loose ball broke to McGrath, who tried to lift a delicate chip over the keeper, only to see it drop onto the roof of the net.
Each miss tightened the tension around the ground.
VAR twist and a frantic finale
That anxiety spiked midway through the half. On 65 minutes, referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot after Sebastian Drodz’s effort struck Newell inside the box. Thistle players demanded the penalty, Hibs players protested, and all eyes went to the VAR monitor.
After reviewing the incident, Nicolson reversed his decision, judging the contact with Newell’s arm accidental. Hibs exhaled. Thistle fumed. The contest crackled into life.
Thistle responded with their best spell of the night. They pushed higher, committed bodies forward and forced Hibs back.
Rafa Sallinger, largely untested earlier, suddenly became central. The Austrian keeper beat away a fierce Cale Loughrey free-kick, then reacted quickly at his near post to block a driven effort from Smyth. Ben Stanway glanced a header wide from a promising position. Ben Dempsey then saw a near-post strike turned behind by Sallinger as the pressure mounted.
Hibs, who had threatened to cruise after that early goal, ended up clinging on, defending their box and their slender lead as the minutes drained away.
When the whistle finally went, it was relief as much as celebration. Elding’s early tap-in had survived a VAR scare, a barrage of late Thistle chances and their own wastefulness in front of goal.
It was not comfortable. It was not polished. But it was enough to put Hibernian into the quarter-finals and keep Gray’s side juggling a domestic cup run with European ambitions that suddenly feel very real.
