Josh Landers bagged himself a hat-trick with Dean Cleland and Malik Zaid also on target for the Hibees at HTC.
Along with the result, there were plenty of other positives to take from the match – with Chris Cadden making a competitive return to the pitch for the first time since May 2023.
Adam Le Fondre also made a return to the pitch, starting the match alongside Harry McKirdy who added more match minutes as he continues his road to recovery.
The Hibees got off to the perfect start, with Chris Cadden marking his return to the pitch with an assist inside the first 10 minutes. The right-back fired a cross low and hard towards the back post with Josh Landers on hand to convert from close-range to open the scoring.
The visitors quickly got themselves back on level terms after a long ball over the top was latched onto by the Airdrieonians striker, who slotted the ball past Murray Johnson to level things up.
From the opening exchanges, you could tell there was goals in the game, with a fast tempo to the match and both sides looking to play attacking football.
On the half-hour mark, Josh Landers tested the Airdrieonians ‘keeper, Cade Melrose – but his effort was comfortably saved.
Moments later, Landers was in again and made no mistake. Chris Cadden and Adam Le Fondre linked up brilliantly down the right hand side, before the former picked out McKirdy in the penalty area. The striker looked poised to score but was denied by a last ditch tackle, with the ball falling to Landers who calmly slotted it into an empty net.
Cadden then had a good chance to add to his first-half assist when he was played through by Le Fondre. The right-back showed good speed to get in behind but his shot was well saved by Melrose to deny him.
On the stroke of half-time Le Fondre nearly added a third, but his shot whistled past the far post and although creating plenty of chances, we went into half-time with a slender 2-1 lead.
Half time: Hibs Dev Squad 2 Airdrieonians 1
Both Cadden and Le Fondre came off at half-time for Alfie Smith and Malik Zaid, but that didn’t stop our attacking threat in the second half.
McKirdy continued to look dangerous; cutting in from the right and shooting just wide before having an effort blocked from six yards out within the first five minutes of the second half.
Midway through the second half, Malik Zaid added the third goal for the Hibees. The midfielder – who is currently on loan at Edinburgh City and is eligible to play for the Hibs Dev Squad, got his name on the scoresheet after his deflected shot wrong-footed the ‘keeper and found its way into the back of the net.
Murray Johnson was then called into action, producing an excellent save to deny Kaine McFarlane from distance.
With 15 minutes left to play, Josh Landers turned provided this time, with a well-weighted pass to Dean Cleland who slotted the ball under the keeper to make it four.
Landers then completed his hat-trick, with another smart striker – this time applying the finish to Rudi Molotnikov’s through-ball.
Credit to the visitors, however, who never gave up throughout the 90 minutes and pulled back a consolation goal in the closing stages. Elliot Dunlop found the back of the net for Airdrieonians after some determined work from his Airdrieonians teammate on the by-line, putting it on a plate for Dunlop to convert.
It could have been six for the Hibees when Alfie Smith cut inside from the right-hand side and rattled the woodwork with an excellent curling effort.
Molotnikov could’ve added to the tally as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute mark but his was saved from 10-yards out.
That was the last action of note, with the match finishing 5-2 as the Hibs Dev Squad moved up to fifth in the cinch Reserve League.
Full time: Hibs Dev Squad 5 Airdrieonians 2
Hibs Dev Squad Starting XI: Johnson, Cadden, Le Fondre, Cleland, J. MacIntyre, Landers, Molotnikov, McGarva, Calder, Blaney, McKirdy.
Subs: Smith, Bruce, McGrath, Zaid.
