The pre-match team talk from Tunners concentrated about the importance on coming out of the blocks fast and building on the spirited and hard fought Cup win over Vikings the previous week. So followed 20 mins of the most languid football i've seen Hibs play this season. Some credit has to go to Ubin who at this stage looked full  of enegy and were pressing us positively and who looked more hungry for the 50:50 balls.

Then came the turning point in the game. Hibs gifted a goal to Ubin when our usually reliable keeper got caught in possession inside his own area when he had loads of time to clear the ball. Never mind John, you have saved us on numerous occasions already this season. 

Then followed the strangest passage of play i've encountered in Cosmo footy to date. Ubin then tried to slow the pace of the game right down and seemed to be playing for the final whistle. This is clearly a sound tactic with 15 mins left on the clock, but not quite so wise when only 15 mins had been played !! The goal seemed to be the kick in the pants the Hibs needed and coupled with the negative Ubin tactics this seemed to give encouragement to the men in green.

The balance of play tipped towards Hibs with Adib and Kaydash both playing with some clever and intellgent touches to make the most of the possession that we were now winning. Bastian continued to be a thorn in the Ubin defence's side as he probed with endless runs across the backline and into the channels. Boothy made a nice run into space to set up the second goal. By half time Hibs had scored twice courtesy of Adib who scored as many goals in the first half as the number of times that he had puked up prior to the game. Twice. Good lad ! 

Hibs went into the half time interval with a slender 2-1 lead. The game could have gone either way at that stage.

The second half saw the Hibs stamping their authority on the game winning the midfield battle and scoring at regular intervals throughout the remainder of the game. Two from Bastian (one a penalty after he was hauled down), one from Kempy and two from Andrew Talbot .

The Hibs midfield was now working well and dominating proceedings as the confidence was visibly draining out of the Ubin players under the baking sun with each goal they conceded and the confidence was flowing back into the boots of the men in green. Gary and Geoff did exactly what Tunners asked of them prior to the game. They broke up any possession that Ubin did get in the 2nd half and Geoff in particular was massive in the aerial battles. Good work lads.

Going 4-1 up with 30 mins still to go meant that the subs were all introduced promptly in the second half. And it was the performances of the players who all came that won the game so convincingly for us. There was a telling contibution from each of the subs who were determined to show the manager that they were not merely there to make up the numbers. Competition for places - its a great problem for a manager to have-- or so they say !

Two debuts; Chris Seaton who had a solid game at right back, coming on at half-time for Ben who had taken a knock early doors. Also a tidy debut from Andrew Talbot who bagged a brace on debut, and was as cool as a cucumber in front of goal except for some classic jug avoidance when he missed a sitter which would have given him a hat-trick.

A special mention for our lucky mascot, Naka. He's been coming along for the last 4 games and we have now won 3 out of 4 of those games. Coincidence? I don't believe in them ! :-)  Well done Naka you're a legend !

MOM: goes to Gary this week for his tireless running in the middle of the park , his covering and general organization in the middle of the park... and not forgetting his irritating whinging, LOL. Well played fella !

We have now got a healthy competition for places in the Hibs squad and the guys that have come into the squad have settled in (or back in) remarkably quickly. We have no game this weekend as the Hibs are on tour in Manila. So we need to take this re-found confidence into the game against Nippon in two weeks time.. .when we will need the specialist linguistic skills of our lucky mascot so that he can translate the Nippon tactics to us ! 

MOM: Gary Corner

Goals: Azahar(2), Wolff (2), Kemp, Talbot (2)

Mascot: Naka