Hibs 3 Livingston 0

A blistering start to our match with Livingston ensured we comfortably collected three precious points to move back into the top six of the cinch Premiership.

Jordan Obita, Myziane Maolida and Adam Le Fondre all netted inside the opening 21 minutes as we put the result to bed early on.

We continued to dominate thereafter and had opportunities to add to our tally during an impressive display, without taking them.

Nick Montgomery made two changes to the side that drew with Ross County in midweek as Chris Cadden and Le Fondre started in place of Lewis Miller and Dylan Levitt.

It was Le Fondre’s first start in almost five months following injury and after scoring in the Highlands in midweek, he was determined to get his name on the scoresheet once again.

The experienced striker was heavily involved in the opening goal inside five minutes when he ran onto Nectarios Triantis' threaded ball before crossing for Obita, who stepped away from Jamie Brandon to notch from close range.

It was the perfect start to the game following our disappointment in Dingwall and it got even better two minutes later when Le Fondre and Joe Newell combined before Elie Youan’s cross was swept into the net by Myziane for his sixth goal in green and white.

The boys really looked in a menacing mood tand the simple, yet intricate, passing was slicing the Livingston rearguard wide-open time-and-again.

There was a determined focus about our play with Newell playing a captain’s part and leading the way with his boundless energy and willingness to get involved all over the park.

On 21 minutes, we made it 3-0 as Cadden drove forward down the right before laying it off to Youan and his driven, low cross was turned in at the back post by Le Fondre sliding in.

The goals appeared simple in their execution, however they were down to the pace and movement of our attackers as Youan grabbed his second assist of the afternoon.

The game continued to be played in the Livingston half as we chased further goals with Cadden shooting wide with an angled drive before Le Fondre was denied a second goal by a fine save from George Shamal at his near post.

Obviously frustrated with what he had witnessed so far, Livingston boss David Martindale made an early change with Mohammed Sangare replacing Steven Bradley after just 36 minutes.

In the closing moments of the first half, substitute Sangare’s looping header landed on the roof of our net during a rare Livi foray forward.

Both teams made a change at the break with Jojo Wollacott replacing David Marshall, who picked up a knock, and former Hibee Mikey Devlin coming on for Livi's David Carson, respectively.

Livingston were seeking an early goal to get back into the game as Wollacott was called into early action to push away Sangare’s curling effort at full stretch in the opening moments.

We were soon back on the attack and threatening the Livi goal with Emiliano and Cadden shooting over with efforts from the edge of the box.

Livi very nearly conceded a fourth goal on 54 minutes when George dwelled on the ball too long allowing Emiliano to block his clearance and the ball ricocheted just wide of goal to spare the 'keeper’s blushes.

The visitors, to their credit, were pushing to reduce arrears and went close with a rising effort from Tete Yengi that fizzed just over our crossbar.

We weren’t enjoying the same level of dominance in the second half as we had in their first, however we remained the likelier to score and almost did so on 61 minutes when Emiliano’s free-kick almost sneaked in at the far post had it not been for a wonderful save from George.

Both sides made a host of substitutions during the second half and the seemingly constant changes certainly disrupted the flow of the game.

Jacob MacIntyre was introduced for his senior Hibernian FC debut, following in the footsteps of his brother, Oscar, in playing for the First Team.

With 11 minutes remaining Wollacott was again called into action, this time to save Joel Nouble’s header at his far post.

The game petered our thereafter however the damage had been done early on and we comfortably collected all three points.