Hibernian overcame Junior side Irvine Meadow at Easter Road this afternoon to move safely into the fifth round of the Active Nation Scottish Cup. Goals from Derek Riordan, Merouane Zemmama and Paul Hanlon were enough to see off the plucky Ayrshire men who fought bravely against their Scottish Premier League opponents.

John Hughes was true to his word and named as strong a starting eleven as he could. With Sol Bamba away on international duty, Ian Murray continued to partner Chris Hogg in the centre of defence while Colin Nish returned to the side having missed out last weekend against Hearts and Darren McCormack dropped out completely through suspension.

Irvine Meadow got the action underway and they made a bright opening with McGinty firing across goal and wide to get the large visiting support on their feet. A former St Mirren and Dundee man, McGinty had another strike at goal seconds later, this time his shot from 20 yards fizzed over the top of Smith's crossbar. Any notion that the Ayrshire men had arrived at Easter Road to defend in numbers was quickly thrown out and on 5 minutes former Hibernian youngster Barr created space for a strike at goal after turning Hogg, then Murray, inside-out but found his effort at goal blocked by a fine recovery tackle from the Hibernian captain.

Miller was perhaps fortunate to escape an early yellow card for pulling back Turner as Irvine Meadow broke forward. Hibernian's first real chance of the game came on 14 minutes when Wotherspoon took the ball beyond Lowing and made it to the bye-line before picking out Stokes who had made a front post run, however the striker's first time effort was inches wide.

Hibernian did have the ball in the net two minutes later when Riordan headed in from Zemmama's back post cross, but the referee had spotted the striker's push on defender Ryan and the effort didn't count. The front three for Hibernian linked up to create the next opportunity when Nish won possession and Stokes fed the ball wide to Riordan. There was only one thought in Riordan's head and that was to have a strike at goal, he cut inside onto his right foot and looked to curl the ball in at the back post however Wardrope was well positioned to make the save.

The goalkeeper was again called into action to gather Nish's looping header from Wotherspoon's delivery but it was a simple enough save for the visiting shot-stopper. There was a moment of controversy on 28 minutes when a long ball forward saw Barr through on goal and when the striker hit the turf after knocking the ball beyond the diving Smith there were more than a few hearts in the mouths of Hibernian supporters, but referee Norris decided that the Irvine Meadow striker had gone to ground too easily and he was cautioned for simulation.

Hibernian opened the scoring on 31 minutes when Wotherspoon once more got beyond Lowing before firing a low cross to the back post that was turned into the net by Derek Riordan under pressure from Ryan. It was the striker's eighth goal of the campaign and it allowed the home side some breathing space in game that they perhaps didn't deserve to lead.

Almost from kick off Irvine carved out an opportunity when the ball was worked to Strain on the right hand-side of the penalty area, the midfielder's powerful effort was beaten away by Smith before he fired the rebound wide of goal. McGinty and Barr had been causing the home defence problems all afternoon and the former went agonisingly close to an equaliser when his wicked curling effort beat Smith before rebounding off the far post.

Stokes fired an effort from 25 yards just wide of goal as half time loomed before Zemmama was the recipient of a crunching tackle from Hamilton. Hibernian doubled their lead four minutes from the break when Riordan set Stokes off and running down the left, the Irishman did well to hold the ball up before picking out Merouane Zemmama on the edge of the penalty area and the Moroccan did the rest when he unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top right hand corner of the net.

It could have been 3-0 not long after when Stokes and Miller linked up inside the Irvine Meadow penalty area before a fantastic tackle from Lowing prevented Riordan from sweeping the ball into the unguarded net with Wardrope stranded. Zemmama then slipped the ball through to Nish who won the race to get there before goalkeeper Wardrope but his effort was agonisingly wide of goal. That was the final action of a largely frustrating opening period when the Junior side more than held their own before being undone by clinical finishing from the home side.

Half Time: Hibernian 2 Irvine Meadow 0

Hibernian got the action underway as both teams returned unchanged. In the opening moments of the half Irvine Meadow were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area after Barr went down under a challenge from Hogg. The Hibernian captain picked up an extremely harsh yellow card for the tackle before Lowing's drive went through the defensive wall and luckily for the home side just wide of goal.

A stunning tackle from Turner prevented Rankin from grabbing a third goal for John Hughes' men after fine link up play from Stokes and Riordan. At the other end Smith had to get down quickly to keep out a powerful drive from Strain after Miller had sliced a clearance into his opponents path. A cross-field pass from Stokes was left by the offside Riordan and Nish and while the visiting defence switched off momentarily Hanlon pounced. The Hibernian defender took one touch to get the ball under control before trying to beat Wardrope at his near post only for the goalkeeper to turn the ball behind for a corner kick.

A third goal however was only delayed a few minutes longer and after Riordan had put the ball through the legs of Ryan, Paul Hanlon raced clear down the left and into the penalty area before picking his spot at the far post beyond Wardrope for his second goal of the campaign and only his third in senior football. Hibernian had been playing the ball on the deck all afternoon but route one football very nearly paid off on the hour mark when Smith's long clearance downfield saw Stokes spin away from McGowan and his near post strike was keep out by the diving Wardrope. Both teams then made changes with Rankin, Zemmama and Nish withdrawn for Stevenson, Cregg and Benjelloun whilst Swift and Boyle replaced McGowan and McGinty for the away side.

With twelve minutes remaining and Hibernian's greater fitness levels becoming more and more apparent, the home side struck the woodwork after Stokes showed clever footwork to step away from Lowing and Robertson before his curling effort hit the back post with Wardrope beaten. Despite this the visitors should have pulled a goal back when Turner slipped the ball between Hogg and Murray for the on running Barr but with just Smith to beat and with a clear sight of goal, he sent his shot over the crossbar.

Both teams went close with free kicks as the clock counted down towards full time, first Riordan curled an effort around the defensive wall that was gathered by Wardrope before Ryan sent a fizzing effort across the face of the Hibernian goal and just wide of the far post. In truth the game had long since been over as a contest with the final quarter of an hour played at the pace of a pre-season friendly.

Hibernian had a fantastic opportunity for a fourth goal in time added on when Stokes found himself clean through on Wardrope's goal but a heavy touch from the striker saw the ball comfortably into the arms of the goalkeeper. Whilst it was far from a vintage performance from Hibernian, for which the credit must go to Chris Strain's men, it was an effective one that saw the club safely into the fifth round of the competition.

Hibernian: Smith, Wotherspoon, Hanlon, Hogg, Murray, Miller, Zemmama, Stokes, Nish, Riordan, Rankin. Subs: Flynn, Cregg, Benjelloun, McBride, Stevenson.

Irvine Meadow: Wardrope, Ryan, Lowing, McGowan, Robertson, Wingate, Strain, Turner, Barr, McGinty, Hamilton. Subs: Hewitt, Boyle, Swift, Cuddihy, McClymont.

Report: Richard Payne