The wee Hibees ran out 4-1 winners over Sunderland U18s in a mid-season friendly at HTC on Friday afternoon (21 March).
Luke Davidson, Dean Cleland, Logan Jimenez and an own-goal secured a comfortable victory over the English Premier League Under-18 side.
With a break in league action – the Hibees kept up their match fitness and organised a fixture with Sunderland who travelled up for the day.
With the likes of Lewis Gillie and Joseph McGrath away on international duty, the match provided a good opportunity to get more match minutes into some of the younger talents within the Academy.
Darren McGregor’s side got off to the perfect start when Luke Davidson put the Hibees in front with a smart first-time finish from inside the six-yard box.
Dean Cleland doubled our advantage inside the opening quarter of an hour. Josh McDonald showed good power to break forward from the halfway line, before crossing for Dean Cleland – who headed home from close range.
The visitors got one back just after half-time with an expertly placed strike from the edge of the area after a quick counter-attack.
We restored our two-goal cushion after some good link-up play between Josh McDonald and Logan Jimenez. Josh showed good initiative to take a quick free-kick and spot the run of Jimenez over the top. The Hibs striker showed great composure plucking the ball out of the sky with a brilliant first touch before beating the keeper one-on-one.
Moments later – the Hibees made it four! Josh McDonald was the provider once more – whipping in a dangerous free-kick into the box, which glanced the head of a Sunderland defender to wrong-foot the goalkeeper.
That was the last action of note as the Hibees saw out the remainder of the match to claim a comfortable win.
