If the pre-match preparations were anything to go by, it seemed that the writing was on the wall that  this cup match would end up in disaster for Brewerkz. 

Only 9 players available on  the Thursday and we just barely managed to pull together 11 by Friday. Eventually Brewerkz turned up for our encounter with HIbs on Saturday with 12 men, of which, the only recognised defender was the Italian Stallion Fulvio.

The game kicked off without the 2 linesmen who apparently were at some other game ESPZEN game at 3pm! Brewerkz started off lively and tried to pass the ball around. Hibs packed the midfield and prevented us from playing our sort passing game which we used effectively in our last encounter. Their strikers were also working very hard to close down our defenders and pin us back for long periods. Eventually we opted to switch tactics and play long balls to ease the pressure. This worked well against 1 or 2 of the Hibs defenders who lacked any pace. Brewerkz then went on to create many chances but without any end product.

Questionable refereeing saw us denied a clear penalty when the Hibs centre back clearly charged into the back of our striker while he was airborne and was about to head in a cross. As Benitez would say, if there were 27 thousand people in the stands I am sure everyone would have seen that it was a penalty. However the referee took the easy way out, and it would not be the last time in this match. Eventually we did score 2 goals. A brace from Kelly. The first a header from a corner against the much bigger Hibs defenders and the second a solo effort after he had been put through by yet another long ball.  Seems the change of boots have done the trick.

2-0 up but Hibs were never out of the contest. They had good possession and our defence was always kept busy dealing with their very hardworking strikers. Eventually they got a goal back just a few minutes before the interval. The referee awarding a dubious hand ball against our player who had his hands down by his side and never moved them as the ball struck him. (later he would refuse to give a hand ball for the same against the Hibs player)

Hibs set piece to the far post and the ball was headed back across goal for that very same Hibs defender (yes the same one who has been lacking pace all game) to get  to the knock back before any of the Brewerks defence and head the ball in. Brewerkz naive in defence. Half time 2-1.

Second half saw Hibs have greater possession and pose more problems to the Brewerks defence which we dealt with most of the time. Eventually the Hibs pressure paid off when their striker played a ball against our defender for a corner. There is some dispute about the fact that the ball had actually crossed the touchline first before the striker actually played it back onto the defender. Everyone turns to look at the linesman at the time of the incident and he is casually strolling up to the touchline 15 meters off the play (probably still tired from the ESPZEN game earlier). The dubious corner given infuriates the Brewerkz players and instead of defending we chose to remonstrate with the referee and linesman and eventually Hibs score a soft goal. Brewerkz naive in defence yet again and 2-2 though it’s hard to say they did not deserve the goal. They missed a great chance to go 3-2 ahead when their striker missed from 4 yards after the initial attempt came off the bar – probably knackered from all the running he did closing us down!!

After riding the storm, Brewerkz settled down and began to play. We created lots of chances down the wings and got behind the Hibs defence on numerous occasions. Another clear cut penalty not given as the Hibs defender clearly raised his arms to deflect a cross into the danger area. Again 27 thousand people could have seen it but the referee again taking the easy way out.

Eventually we did get our winning goal. A Brewerkz make shift defender who was just told a few times that he does not know how to mark, decided to step up into midfield and did what he normally does best- putting a defence splitting pass into the path of our winger to cut back for an easy tap in. 3-2 and that’s how you do it Mr. Stallion!

Overall the right result considering we had clear cut 2 penalty claims turned down plus the fact we scored 1 more goal in this contest.

Many thanks to the Hibs for a competitive game played in an excellent spirit with much passion and lots of battling and an equal amount of banter on both sides.  

By Chris Pereira.