The Wee Hibees went into Friday’s opener at HTC, fresh off an inspiring pre-season. However, unfortunately, Rudi Molotnikov’s impressive finish ended up not being enough to win the team a point as Accies struck late to take all three.
Hibs started to come into the game as the first half went on and saw their first real chance of the game come just after a quarter of an hour was gone. After a foul on Hibs’ no 8, Harry Wright put a ball into the box which looked set to be claimed by the Accies ‘keeper however he spilt the ball, with it falling at the feet of Hibs forward Molotnikov. He got a shot off away at goal but the Accies ‘keeper did very well to keep the ball out.
With just over the first quarter of the game done, it was Molotnikov who again tested the Accies ‘keeper with an ambitious shot from the edge of the box, however, yet again the man in net for Hamilton stood up to the test.
This time it was Hibs goalkeeper, Freddie Owens, who pulled off a good save to deny Hamilton no 7 after a quick counter-attack from the Accies.
With just 10 minutes left of the half, Hibs’ Alfie Smith did incredibly well to win the ball back just inside his half and gets the ball away to Hibs no 7 who gets the ball into Rudi Molotnikov’s feet. Molotnikov cuts inside and nestles the ball right into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, putting the Wee Hibees 1-0 up.
Throughout the second half, Hibs continued to defend well until they gave away a sloppy free kick down their left side, a few yards outside of the box. Hamilton played the ball into box with it initially evading everyone, it eventually dropped to Hamilton no 17 who equalised for the away side.
In what was a very tightly contested second half, both teams had their fair share of chances.
Unfortunately, however, the decisive chance fell Hamilton’s way when just after the 90th minute, Hamilton’s no 9 managed to slot his shot away sending the Accies home with all three points.
The U18’s now look to next Friday’s away tie against Dundee United to get their first points on the board for this season.
