On the third attempt this season, Latini finally beat Hibs with a 3-1 result at the Singapore Sports School on Saturday.  And to be fair to them, they looked the more determined side in this Cup contest.

Hibs never really got going in the first half and had to rely on a few decent stops from Simon, and a couple of goalline clearences, to keep out Latini in the first 20 minutes.  It wasn't through lack of effort though, Bastian, Dan, Alex, Gary ,and our defence all busting their guts (Gary literally) to make something happen.  But it was Latini, with their neat passing football, who looked the better prospect. And so it proved with two goals in quick succession midway through the first half, the second one an excellent long range strike that flew over Simon into the Hibs net.

After half time, HIbs managed to get the ball down and play a bit more, Gary started to influence things in the middle and our passing looked generally more purposeful.

An excellent free kick from Lev, drilled into the top corner from 25 yards got the score back to 2-1 and we looked like a good bet to get back in the game.  We'd done it before against Latini and their seemed to be a belief in the HIbs ranks.

But as is often the case when you are pushing for the win, you leave gaps at the back and Latini had a number of breakaway chances to put the game beyond doubt.  They managed to take one of them 10 minutes before the end, putting the game out of reach of the gallant Hibs.

Man of the Match goes to James Walker who did an excellent job at left back, one of the only Hibs players to actually play to their full potential for the whole 90 minutes

Ref had OK game, a few too many decisions seemed to be influenced by who appealed loudest.  But nothing that really changed the course of the game, it has to be said.

Thanks to Latini who have certainly improved since we beat them (twice) earlier in the season....  The very best of luck in the Cup.  Hibs will be flying the flag in the Plate this year!

And as you say, Hibs and Latini will likely be meeting again this season, at the Bangkok GAS tournament at Easter. We look forward to that and hope that you'll join us for a Singha or two in one of the Soi's.