Hibernian Advances in Premier Sports Cup After Elding's Early Goal
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 every second of a fraught finish by a stubborn Partick Thistle side.
The forward, already in sharp form this season, grabbed his third goal of the campaign with the kind of finish every striker craves: simple, ruthless, and decisive.
Elding pounces as Hibs fly out the traps
If there were any fears of heavy legs after the midweek trip to North Macedonia and a Conference League play-off clincher against Shkendija, Hibs killed them quickly.
David Gray freshened things up. Kanayo Megwa, Jack Iredale, Joe Newell and Jamie McGrath all came in, and the hosts tore into Thistle from the first whistle.
Inside five minutes, they should have been in front. McGrath slid a clever through ball into Elding’s path and the striker burst clear, only for Liam McFarlane to stand tall and block with his legs.
That felt like a warning. Seven minutes later, Thistle didn’t heed it.
Iredale drove to the byline on the left and whipped a wicked ball across the six-yard box. It flashed past defenders, begging for a touch, and Elding arrived at the back post to knock it in. Simple finish, brutal in its timing. Hibs were 1-0 up and cruising.
For a spell, it looked like they might run away with it. Thistle struggled to get out, Hibs shifted the ball with confidence, and the tie seemed to be tilting one way.
It never quite did.
Missed chances keep Thistle alive
Instead of killing the game, Hibs let it hang.
Thistle tightened up, dropped deeper and forced Gray’s side into traffic. They made it awkward, without offering much threat of their own. Oisin Smyth did at least remind Hibs there was still a contest when his shot flicked off a defender and went wide, but most of the danger came at the other end.
McFarlane, on loan from Hearts, refused to let the scoreline grow.
He produced a superb reaction stop to tip Elding’s close-range effort on to the bar, a save that drew gasps around the ground. Moments later, he spread himself again to block from Nathan Lowe, keeping Thistle just one kick away from parity at the interval.
Hibs came out after the break still on the front foot. Mayor saw a drive pushed behind by McFarlane, who kept repelling everything in green and white.
Then came the moment Elding will replay in his head.
Just before the hour, Lowe picked him out with a raking pass that sliced open the Thistle defence. Elding was clear, the goal gaping. One heavy touch, though, and the chance was gone, McFarlane diving bravely at his feet. The loose ball broke to McGrath, who tried to loft it over the keeper, only to see his chip land on the roof of the net.
The door stayed open. Thistle walked through it.
VAR twist ignites Thistle fightback
On 65 minutes, the tie exploded.
Sebastian Drodz’s effort inside the box struck Newell’s arm and referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot. Thistle players roared. Hibs froze. It looked like the moment the visitors had been waiting for.
Then VAR intervened.
After a review, Nicolson reversed his decision, ruling the contact accidental. Penalty gone. Hibs exhaled. Thistle raged – and then channelled it.
The disallowed spot-kick only sharpened their edge. From that point, the game tilted towards the Hibs goal.
Cale Loughrey stepped up with a vicious free-kick that Rafa Sallinger had to beat away. The Austrian keeper was suddenly busy, springing low at his near post to keep out a Smyth effort as Thistle swarmed.
The chances kept coming. Ben Stanway glanced a header wide from a promising position, another reminder that Hibs were hanging on rather than cruising through. Ben Dempsey then forced Sallinger into action again, his near-post strike pushed behind as the clock ticked down.
Hibs, who had threatened to turn this into a procession early on, were now clinging to Elding’s 12th-minute goal as if it were gold.
They held on. Just.
The performance will invite questions. The result will not. Hibs are in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup – and if they want to go deeper, they know exactly where the standard has to rise.
