World News – GB – Forfar Athletic 0-1 Hibs recap: Highlights as Gray’s header wins for Hibs

David Gray’s late header was enough to secure Hibernian three trotting wins in the group stages of the Betfred Cup in a Goalmouth lightweight competition action at Station Park

The Hibs captain rose to come home on a Stevie Mallan free kick two minutes from time after substitute Kevin Nisbet hit the crossbar in the second period

Deadline signing Kyle Magennis and youngster Ryan Shanley were drafted for their first starts, with Kevin Nisbet and Martin Boyle falling to the bench in an exhausted Hibs squad that saw just 13 outside players make the travel

There was also a recall for left-back Sean Mackie in the absence of injured Lewis Stevenson, while Jamie Gullan was rewarded for his bench-scoring impact against Cove with a starting spot

A turgid first half overshadowed by injury to Forfar’s Darren Whyte saw both sides create little chance

A Mackie header that hit the side net and Christian Doidge’s blocked acrobatic effort was as good as the men in green and white, while Forfar had some shy screams for a penalty kicked aside by the referee David Munro

In the wake of Hibs’ victory over Cove this weekend, Ross described his half-time team speech as « unprintable » and this one was clearly delivered with a similar ferocity

Doidge’s header on a Stevie Mallan corner flickered right in front of the goal in the opening minutes of the second period, but it was as good as it was for Hibs until Nisbet, sent in. as a submarine, slams a head against the goal frame with 20 minutes remaining

Forfar, for his part, tried his luck against his Premiership opponents, but Archie Thomas and BJ Coll were off target on their forays forward

Jim Weir’s side had been defensively rigid in the face of a slightly blunt attack from the Hibs, but the Loons’ back line eventually breached two minutes from when Gray passed Marc McCallum at close range. for his first goal since last March

It was by no means a classic, but it’s three points for Hibs and that’s all we could ask for

David Gray getting up to go home will never, ever be tiring, but the 87 minutes that have passed have been quite difficult

Yet a win is a win and that’s three out of three for the men in green and white

David Gray gets up to meet a Stevie Mallan delivery in the box to give Hibs a late lead

Boyle flies down to the right and plays it through the goal, but he’s thrown over Nisbet’s toe and a cross from the left sails well over the bar

Nisbet gets hit on a left cross but McCallum rallies without too much trouble

Coll goes up the other end and has a shot from a distance, but he dives tightly over the bar

Finally, something to talk about as Nisbet heads up against the crossbar after ghosting a Jamie Gullan cross

This is the first real serious golmouth action we’ve had, but the Hibs forward might be slightly disappointed that he didn’t do better there

Stevie Mallan should have done a lot better there after being picked by Ryan Shanley in the box, but he failed his effort and Forfar cleared

Jack Ross has seen enough, Martin Boyle and Kevin Nisbet are for Shanley and Kyle Magennis

Half a chance for the home side as Thomas picks up a 20-yard free ball and drills an effort goal towards the goal, but it’s far from the nearest post

Mallan’s corner finds Doidge at the far post, but the Welshman’s header crosses the goal and is sent off

I think we can all agree that 45 minutes of football have passed now and there is nothing we can do about it

Other than this terrible injury inflicted on Darren Whyte, there really isn’t much to say here

Dillon Barnes throws a free kick into the empty stands and that pretty much sums up the first half here

We’re back because he’s replaced by Thomas, expect a lot of extra time at the end of this first half

We haven’t seen the incident but judging by the current reaction from the players and the medical teams administering the treatment, it’s really bad for the man from Forfar

Looks like there has been a serious injury for Forfar defender Darren Whyte, with the defender apparently uncomfortable

We are aware of some issues with tonight’s live broadcast and are working on it Apologies to everyone who purchased the game

Well, we can’t see what’s going on at the moment but according to our source on the ground, not a lot

Not too much to report, Mallan’s free kick is erased and Forfar absorbs the pressure of a few crosses

Sean Mackie is back in the Hibs’ first team after his Dundee loan campaign last year ended prematurely with injury

Full-back picks up nicely to meet a Kyle Magennis cross but can only steer into the side net

Stevie Mallan’s recoil is behind Christian Doidge but finds Jamie Gullan coming from the left, but his effort is blocked

Not much to shout in the first five minutes as the ball spends most of its time in the middle of the pitch

This is pretty rambling stuff as far as Stephen McGinn returns the ball to Dillon Barnes

There appears to be an issue with one of Station Park’s goal nets before kick-off with a man on a ladder doing his best to put them back in place

He’s come back down and we seem to be okay with starting as the teams exit the tunnel

No news from the host team yet, but they do have a few familiar names on their team

St Johnstone moneylender John Robertson grew up as a fan of the Hibs, despite his name being more closely associated with our Brown neighbors, while Steven Anderson is a Perth legend, playing for the club more than 400 times

He brings the Premiership experience to the back row, while Bobby Barr, Mark Hill and Gary Irvine have all played higher in the pyramid

Forward Jordan Allan could be one to watch tonight after scoring consistently for Cowdenbeath last season after spending some testing time at Easter Road

Good evening, Hibees! Jack Ross named his starting lineup for tonight’s Betfred Cup face to face with Forfar Athletic Delivered by @VittoriaEd picTwittercom / tz2yDqCpJo

The young striker and Joe Newell lookalike was on loan at Forfar last year, but hopes to make a good impression at Station Park in green and white

Hibs and Forfar might not be regular opponents – tonight’s game is their first competitive meeting since 1971 – but when they met there was usually a guaranteed goal

The Easter Road side missed 8-1 winners in a Scottish Cup draw 49 years ago, as they scored four unanswered in their only other meeting after -war

Prior to that, the 1932/33 season saw teams face off four times, with 22 goals scored in those games, including a 2-2, 3-3, 7-3 win for the men in green. and white

Based on how the team looked at the end of the game against Cove and Ross’s recent comments on team selection, we’ve tried to test it out below:

READ MORE: How injured Hibs could line up for Betfred Cup draw at Forfar with Jack Ross forced to switch

Among those hoping for new first-team opportunities, forward Jamie Gullan, who re-energized his partnership with Kevin Nisbet in the victory at Balmoral Stadium

The pair played on loan together at Raith Rovers and in their last game as forward pair the two found the net against For many

Gullan explained how he could see that Niset was doomed to bigger things at the time, admitting that he would like the chance to team up again on a more regular basis.

« He just had this natural ability to finish and score goals and since joining Hibs he looks faster and stronger than he did at Raith

« I knew he could level up when we were at Raith We did a good job back then and I hope we can continue to do so this season »

READ MORE: Hibs forward Jamie Gullan on ‘big season’ as he hails ‘natural scorer’ Kevin Nisbet

Hibernien FC, Forfar Athletic FC, Jack Ross, Scottish Premiership