Despite dominating for large periods in the match Hibernian slipped to a 3-1 home defeat from Preston North End this afternoon. It was a disappointing end for the home side but in terms of learning much about his players this pre-season friendly proved to an invaluable one for John Hughes.

Hibernian F.C. Match Reports
Hibernian 1 Preston North End 3
Pre-Season Challenge Match
Saturday 1st August 2009

The Manager, taking his first match in charge of Hibernian at Easter Road Stadium, made five changes to the side that faced Shamrock Rovers last Monday in Dublin. Into the starting eleven came Van Zanten, Murray, Hogg, Zemmama and Rankin and out went McCormack, Hanlon, Thicot, Wotherspoon and Stevenson - with all bar Thicot being called back off the bench during the 90 minutes.

Before the action got underway there was a minutes' applause for English football legend Bobby Robson who sadly passed away yesterday morning.

Hibernian started brightly and trickery from Zemmama created an opportunity in the opening seconds of the match. The midfielder burst forward down the right wing before cutting inside Nolan. The defender expected a cross from the Moroccan, but instead it was a shot from 8 yards that Chaplow did well to block.

It did not take the visitors long to settle and a shot from Wallace from the edge of the area took a wicked deflection from Elliot to deceive Ma-Kalambay, but fortunately for the Hibernian goalkeeper the ball finished just off target. Soon after full back Hart sent a powerful shot across the face of goal and despite there being a number of Preston attackers in the box none were able to divert it on target.

On 18 minutes Lonergan produced a stunning save to prevent Riordan from breaking the deadlock in spectacular fashion. The Hibernian attacker had curled a quite fantastic free kick around the defensive wall which looked likely to find the top corner of the net before the goalkeeper got his fingertips to the ball to push it away for a corner kick.

Chivers did just enough to take the ball away from Hogg as the Hibernian captain attempted to divert an in-swinging free kick from Rankin towards goal. A cross-come-shot from Zemmama very nearly caught out Lonergan who reacted brilliantly to get back on his goal-line and tip the ball over his crossbar for another corner kick to the home side.

Both teams were creating a good goal scoring opportunities and next to threaten were Preston when Elliot headed a corner kick from Wallace just wide of target. Derek Riordan once more showed he was back to his brilliant best when he lofted the ball over Chaplow and slammed a low left foot strike that Lonergan saved with his legs.

John Hughes was forced into an early change when McBride hobbled from the field of play to be replaced by Wotherspoon on 33 minutes. Seconds later Riordan again tested Lonergan with a shot from fully 30 yards; the Hibernian striker however appeared to have been caught from behind by Wallace just as he was taking his shot.

Hibernian was creating the better of the opportunities and they again went close to opening the scoring when Murray's deep cross was headed just wide by Wotherspoon. Zemmama, who has been in outstanding form this pre-season, had the Hibernian supporters on their feet with a stunning run that left no fewer than six Preston players in his wake before slipping the ball onto Nish. The striker's cross was pushed away by the stretching Lonergan just as Wotherspoon looked set to sweep it into the net.

As half time approached Riordan had the final effort when his shot from 20 yards was spilled by Lonergan, the goalkeeper was able to complete the save before anyone in a Hibernian shirt could pounce. That was the final action in a first half that saw both teams have periods of dominance. Hibernian had the better of the goal scoring opportunities but after 45 minutes there was no separating the teams who remained deadlocked.

Half Time: Hibernian 0 Preston North End 0

At the interval Preston made two changes with Brown and Mellor replacing Elliot and Parkin as the visitors - and one of the changes would make an immediate impact. The visitors were gifted the opening goal of the game when Bamba completely missed a pass towards him and that allowed former Liverpool youngster Mellor to race clean through on goal and slot the ball beyond Ma-Kalambay into the bottom right hand corner.

It should have been 2-0 to Preston just seconds after the restart as Hibernian fell asleep when defending a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. The Hibernian defenders failed to spot the run of Davidson into the penalty box and Wallace slipped the ball to his unmarked team-mate. The former Scotland internationalist drew Ma-Kalambay from his goal before trying to find the far corner of the net however his shot ended inches wide of the post.

On 62 minutes Riordan was once more thwarted by a stunning save from Lonergan, the Preston goalkeeper magnificently pushing away a curling effort from the Hibernian striker that seemed sure to find the back of the net. Both sides made changes with Hart, Sedgwick and Lonergan replaced by Jones, Carter and Henderson. For Hibernian Van Zanten and Cregg were withdrawn and replaced by McCormack and Hanlon which resulted in Murray moving into central defence and Bamba pushed forward into midfield.

A swift counter attack from Preston carved open the home defence and led to the visitors doubling their lead on 71 minutes. Nicholson played the ball forward to Mellor on the right hand-side of the penalty area and his low cross beat Ma-Kalambay and left Brown with an open goal. Somehow the Preston substitute completely missed the ball, but the danger was not over for Hibernian and when Carter returned the ball into the middle Brown made amends for his miss just seconds later by stabbing the ball into the net from close range. It was 3-0 not long after when Nicholson's cross from the right was headed beyond Ma-Kalambay into the far corner of the net by Brown for his second goal of the afternoon.

Before play resumed Stevenson and Byrne replaced Rankin and Nish for the last 10 minutes of the match. The bright enterprising play of the first half was now a distant memory and it could have been worse. Mellor's cross from the left fizzed across the face of goal with Brown just unable to stable the loose ball into the Hibernian and from his cut back, Nicholson fired the ball into the side netting.

Galbraith replaced Bamba for the final minutes as Hibernian pushed for a consolation strike. Derek Riordan very nearly caught out substitute goalkeeper Henderson direct from a corner kick, the Hibernian striker's effort crashed off the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

Byrne headed a near post cross from Riordan just over before Hibernian did finally have the ball in the back of the Preston net. Byrne's cross from the right appeared to be of little danger to Preston defender Trotman who surprisingly headed unchallenged into his own net for an embarrassing own goal. That was the final action of a disappointing match in which Hibernian controlled for large spells but were clinically punished by their English opponents for wasteful finishing in front of goal.

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

Preston North End: Lonergan, Hart, Davidson, Chaplow, Chilvers, Nolan, Sedgwick, Nicholson, Elliot, Parkin, Wallace. Subs: Jones, Trotman, Carter, Brown, Mellor, Henderson.

Referee: Euan Norris.

Attendance: 6,557

Pics: Willie McGillivray for Hibernian TV