Hibernian F.C. Match Report
Shamrock Rovers 1 Hibernian 0
Pre-Season Challenge Match
Monday 27th July 2009

John Hughes reshuffled his pack with no fewer than four changes from Saturday's victory over Glentoran in Belfast. Into the starting eleven was McCormack, Thicot, Wotherspoon and Stevenson and out went Hogg, Van Zanten, Rankin and Zemmama.

With new club captain Chris Hogg named amongst the substitutes, Sol Bamba had the honour of leading Hibernian out this evening at the Tallaght Stadium against Michael O'Neill's Shamrock Rovers side - who were in action yesterday afternoon against Bohemians.

Hibernian got the action underway and created the first chance of the evening when a poor clearance from Maguire fell kindly for Wotherspoon on the edge of the penalty area. With options on either side of him, the youngster instead shot for goal but his effort was weak and easily held by Shamrock goalkeeper Duggan.

At the other end Ma-Kalambay had to race from his penalty box to clear after Denny had got goal side of Thicot. On 10 minutes Maguire got his head to a fine cross from the left by Mok but struggled to get any real power or conviction behind his effort and Ma-Kalambay gathered comfortably.

Shamrock continued to have the better of the opening exchanges and it took a brave block from Stevenson to prevent McGill testing Ma-Kalambay from 18 yards. When Hibernian did break forward they were more often than not caught out by the offside trap deployed by the home defence, Riordan and Nish were both guilty of this on a number of occasions.

The Easter Road side were playing a patient, passing game but more often than not their final ball would let them down. Hibernian almost broke through the rigid home defence Wotherspoon set up Riordan on 27 minutes, the striker cut inside Madden but just as he looked set to score, he found his drive was blocked by Denny. Riordan went even closer to scoring moments later when his stunning drive from 25 yards crashed back off the post, the rebound fell to Nish but he too was thwarted as goalkeeper Duggan managed to readjust his body to save.

It took Hibernian a little time to settle but they now controlled the game in the midfield and enjoyed the lion's share of possession. Hanlon and McCormack were so far up the field at times that they were almost playing as wingers and that would have pleased John Hughes in the dugout. It was from a run and cross by Hanlon that Hibernian created their next opportunity, the defender finding Cregg with his cross, but his knock down was missed on the turn by Wotherspoon and rolled harmlessly into the arms of a grateful Rover's goalkeeper.

As the game ebbed towards the half time break, Patrick Cregg had the final chance of the first period, the ball sitting up perfectly for the midfielder however his shot finished well wide of the target. A decent first half then for John Hughes' side who had come close to scoring on a number of occasions and had dominated possession.

Half Time: Shamrock Rovers 0 Hibernian 0

Shamrock started the second half brightly and they opened the scoring on 48 minutes when a long ball forward was headed away by Thicot - but only as far as O'Connor who beat Ma-Kalambay at his near post with a fine left foot strike from the edge of the penalty area. On 59 minutes Hibernian made their first changes of the evening when Galbraith and local boy Byrne replaced Nish and Riordan. The pouring rain made the greasy surface difficult for both teams with each side guilty of misplaced passes on the wet pitch.

McCormack and McBride were withdrawn and replaced by McCann and Rankin before Kurtis Byrne was unlucky not to connect with an excellent free kick from Galbraith. Soon after, the Irishman did well to lose his marker but couldn't quite make a clean connection with the ball to divert it beyond Duggan. Substitute John Rankin went agonisingly close to an equalising goal with his first touch of the game, the midfielder's free kick from distance striking the outside of the post and going behind with Duggan beaten.

Bradley foolishly picked up a yellow card on 78 minutes when he kicked the ball away as Hibernian tried to take a quick free kick. Referee Caschera had earlier spoken to the Rovers' striker after a similar incident but he had failed to heed. A run and shot from central defender Thicot gave Duggan something to worry about as the clock ticked down towards full time. The defender's effort from 25 yards had the goalkeeper scrambling across his goal-line and he was relieved to see the effort finish inches wide.

Both sets of supporters were giving their respective teams some very noisy backing from a packed main stand. Despite winning a series of corner kicks, Hibernian were unable to put the Shamrock defence under too much pressure because the deliveries were over hit. In time added on the ball broke to Byrne inside the penalty but the striker was left frustrated as goalkeeper Duggan produced a fantastic save to block from close range. From the resulting corner kick Byrne's cross found Wotherspoon at the near post, he glanced his header across goalkeeper Duggan and just wide of goal as Shamrock held on for a narrow victory.

At the final whistle the Hibernian players showed their gratitude for the 400 Hibs supporters who had travelled across from Edinburgh and had given them tremendous backing. Despite the defeat there were a number of positives to take from the game for Hibernian, who on another night could have won quite handsomely.

Shamrock Rovers: Duggan, Madden, Ekanem, Maguire, Mok, O'Carroll, Denny, Bradley, O'Connor, McGill, Johnston. Subs: Massey, Hyland, Oladele, McLoughlin, Coleman.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, McCormack, Hanlon, Bamba, Thicot, McBride, Wotherspoon, Cregg, Nish, Riordan, Stevenson. Subs: Flynn, Hogg, Van Zanten, McCann, Galbraith, Rankin, Byrne.

Referee: Phill Cashera.

Attendance: 2,600