Hibernian 5, Cowdenbeath 0.

SPFL Championship Attendance-8240 A DRASTIC closing quarter of an hour saw Cowdenbeath well beaten at Easter Road on Saturday.

This was always going to be a tough game for the Blues but they recovered well after losing two goals in the first 25 minutes. For 50 minutes the game ebbed and flowed, and while Hibs had the better chances Cowden had a few of their own.

Kudus Ouyenuga and Sean Higgins both went close but could not get the goal which could have put a bit of pressure on the Hibees.

And in the closing minutes the hosts ran in three goals to give Cowden their second heaviest defeat of the campaign.

Defensively Cowden went with Thomas O’Brien and Nat Wedderburn in the central area, with the latter passing a late fitness test, and they did well for the most part, but were eventually swamped when Hibs took over the midfield in the closing quarter.

Full-backs Kyle Miller and Jordan Halsman worked hard throughout but they too started to find too much work to do after the Cowden midfield started to struggle.

Colin Marshall, Jon Robertson and Declan Hughes, along with Lewis Milne, had a good period either side of the interval but eventually the home side totally dominated this area.

Cowdenbeath had club skipper John Armstrong and left-back Kenny Adamson on the bench after showing signs that they have fully recovered from their long term injuries and the Blue Brazil fans will be hoping they can soon compete for a starting place.

But it was the hosts who started the game impressively and in the very first minute Dylan McGeouch had a shot blocked then shortly after Liam Fountaine headed over.

In eight minutes Hibs took the lead. The Cowden defensive plan did not deal well with a corner and Paul HANLON was lying handy to hook the ball past Robbie Thomson from close in after Fountaine nodded on.

Three minutes later Cowden had their first attempt at goal when Robertson got too much air into his drive which went over, then Higgins saw his low shot blocked by Fontaine.

However, in 24 minutes it was 2-0. Scott Allan sent over a nice cut-back and Jason CUMMINGS did the needful from close in.

Minutes later the young Hibs striker saw Thomson make a good save from him and then Booth saw O’Brien block his effort, but at the other end Halsman fired inches over from the edge of the box.

The second period started with the Fifers under a bit of pressure and Cummings saw a shot well saved by Thomson and then from a corner, Hanlon blasted over from close in, but on the hour mark Milne shot just too high in Cowdenbeath’s best move of the early part of the half.

In 64 minutes Cowden threatened again, when from a Milne corner Oyenuga got free in the box and his header flashed wide.

With 20 minutes left Cowden threw on loan signing Robbie Buchanan, from Hearts, for Hughes but it was Hibs who stepped up their game.

In 73 minutes they grabbed the key third goal when McGeouch provided the telling pass to Scott ROBERTSON who gave Thomson no chance, after outpacing Marshall.

This gave the Fife team a mountain to climb and with eight minutes left a fourth arrived. Substitute Sam Stanton was the provider and BOOTH despatched the ball into the net at the back post.

Cowden’s challenge was out on its feet and in time added on Lewis STEVENSON ensured Hibs went nap when he guided a 25 yarder past the beleaguered Thomson.

Hibernian: Oxley (7); Booth (7), Stevenson (7); Hanlon (6), Fountaine (7), Robertson (6); S Allan (7) (Stanton 65 (4)), Craig (7), Cummings (9), McGeouch (7) (Forster 78 (3)), Boyle (7) (Handling 79 (3). Subs not used, Hefferman, L Allan, Martin and Pentreau.

Cowdenbeath: Robbie Thomson (6); Kyle Miller (7), Jordan Halsman (6); Colin Marshall (5), Thomas O’Brien (6), Nat Wedderburn (6); Jon Robertson (5), Lewis Milne (6), Kudus Oyenuga (6), Sean Higgins ( 6), Declan Hughes (5) (Liam Buchanan 71 (3)). Subs not used, Kenny Adamson, John Armstrong, Darren Brownlie, Chris Kane, Craig Johnston and Jamie Sneddon.

Referee- Andrew Dallas (6).