Hibernian Edge Past Partick Thistle in Premier Sports Cup
Owen Elding’s early strike was enough to drag Hibernian into the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup – but they were made to sweat for it by a stubborn, increasingly dangerous Partick Thistle.
The forward hit his third goal of the season with a simple finish at the back post, and for a while it looked like David Gray’s side might cruise through. They didn’t. A flurry of missed chances, a VAR-reversed penalty and a late Thistle surge turned a routine cup tie into a tense, hanging-on job.
Hibs fly out of the blocks
If there were any concerns about heavy legs after the midweek trip to North Macedonia, Hibs killed them quickly. Fresh faces helped. Kanayo Megwa, Jack Iredale, Joe Newell and Jamie McGrath all came in and the tempo from the hosts was sharp from the first whistle.
Inside five minutes, they carved Thistle open. McGrath slid a clever ball through for Elding, who burst clear and drove low, only to see Liam McFarlane block with his legs. It felt like an early warning.
Seven minutes later, Thistle didn’t heed it. Iredale surged to the byline on the left and whipped a wicked ball across the six-yard box. Elding, alive at the back post, crashed it into the net. Simple finish. Ruthless movement. 1-0 and Hibs looked in the mood to make a long night for the visitors.
They pressed high, moved the ball quickly and tried to suffocate Kris Doolan’s side. For a spell, Thistle barely escaped their own half.
Missed chances keep Thistle alive
Then the game changed rhythm. Hibs’ control remained, but their edge dulled. The second goal never came, and with every wasted opening, belief grew in the away end.
Thistle weren’t offering much going forward, though Oisin Smyth did see a shot deflected wide as they tried to stir a response. Most of the real danger, though, continued to come at McFarlane’s end.
The on-loan Hearts goalkeeper kept his team alive. He produced a stunning stop to tip Elding’s close-range effort on to the bar, an instinctive save that drew gasps around the ground. Moments later, he denied Nathan Lowe with his feet, standing up brilliantly as Hibs again sliced through.
Hibs went into the break ahead but not out of sight. That would haunt them.
They came again after the restart. Mayor drove in a low effort that McFarlane pushed behind, the keeper once more refusing to be beaten easily.
Just before the hour, Elding should have buried the tie. Lowe picked him out with a raking pass that sent him clear, but the striker’s heavy touch invited McFarlane to dive at his feet and smother. The loose ball broke to McGrath, who tried to improvise a delicate chip, only to see it drop on to the roof of the net.
The chances kept slipping away. The tension started to creep in.
VAR twist and Thistle surge
On 65 minutes, Hibs’ wastefulness almost came back to bite them. Sebastian Drodz’s effort struck Newell in the box and referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot. Thistle players roared. So did their bench.
Then came the VAR check.
After reviewing the incident, Nicolson overturned his own decision, ruling the contact with Newell’s arm accidental. Hibs exhaled. Thistle fumed. The game, already tight, crackled into life.
The visitors responded with their best spell. They pushed bodies forward, pressed higher and finally began to ask serious questions of the Hibs back line.
Cale Loughrey stepped up and hammered a free-kick that Rafa Sallinger had to beat away, the Hibs goalkeeper showing strong hands to keep it out. Smyth then darted to the near post and forced Sallinger into another sharp save as the pressure mounted.
Ben Stanway glanced a header wide from a promising position, a half-chance that felt bigger in the context of the night. Ben Dempsey followed up with a near-post effort that Sallinger again turned behind, the Austrian increasingly central to Hibs’ survival act.
Hibs, once so fluent, were now hanging on, forced deeper and deeper as Thistle chased the equaliser their second-half performance threatened.
They never found it. The final whistle brought relief more than celebration for the home side, who move into the quarter-finals knowing this should have been far more comfortable.
They’re through. But with European commitments and knockout football stacking up, how long can they keep living this close to the edge?
