Hibs weekend wrap: Indian final woe for Stack | Fletcher spot-on for Owls

Here's what Hibees past and present have been doing away from Easter Road over the weekend ...
Graham Stack shows his anguish as Atletico de Kolkata score in the penalty shoot-out.Graham Stack shows his anguish as Atletico de Kolkata score in the penalty shoot-out.
Graham Stack shows his anguish as Atletico de Kolkata score in the penalty shoot-out.

Indian play-off final woe for Stack

Judging by his Twitter feed, former Hibs goalkeeper Graham Stack is having the time of his life out in India. The Irishman left Easter Road for Barnet back in 2012 and after four years in north London, he decided to try something new and join Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League, managed by his old Reading gaffer Steve Coppell. Stack hasn't played every week for the side founded by Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, but he was reinstated for the grand final of the league against Atletico de Kolkata yesterday in Kochi. Unfortunately, it was to end in heartache for Stack and his team-mates. The match was drawn 1-1 in regulation time, with Kolkata emerging victorious 4-3 on penalties. Stack wasn't the only non-SPFL player to be involved, with ex-Alloa striker Michael Chopra on the bench for Kerala, while former Falkirk keeper Dani Mallo and Motherwell stalwart Stephen Pearson were unused subs for Kolkata.

Welsh stoops to conquer Jambos

Sean Welsh, thanks mainly to persistent injury problems, never really got a chance to cement a spot in the Hibs first-team after captaining the Under-19 squad to league and cup glory in season 2008/09. Despite knocks continuing to plague him at Partick Thistle, he's still become one of the main men for the Maryhill side. No doubt he would have taken great satisfaction in pegging Hearts back with a diving header to earn the Jags a 1-1 draw at Tynecastle.

Fletcher is right on the spot

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Considering Sheffield Wednesday were one match away from winning promotion to the English Premier League last season, eventually losing to Hull City in the play-offs, there is some expectation in the city of steel that they can go one step further this time around. So, a home match against bottom-of-the-table Yorkshire rivals Rotherham was supposed to be an easy three points. It didn't turn out that way. In fact, the Owls needed an injury-time penalty from former Hibee Steven Fletcher to bag them all three points. That strike was Fletcher's sixth goal since joining Wednesday in the summer.

How the loanees got on

Sam Stanton has missed the past few weeks for Dumbarton due to injury, but he was back in their starting line-up as they downed Falkirk 2-1 at home. Jamie Insall was a 67-minute substitute in East Fife's 2-0 win over Peterhead and Oli Shaw, fresh from his hat-trick last week for the Under-20s, played the last 18 minutes of Stenhousemuir's 1-0 success against Albion Rovers. Aaron Dunsmore and Ryan Porteous kept a clean sheet as Edinburgh City drew 0-0 at Clyde.

Former player watch

- Leigh Griffiths was on the mark for Celtic as they defeated Dundee 2-1.- Stephen Dobbie continued his good run of form, netting in Queen of the South's 2-2 draw with Dunfermline.- Paul Cairney opened the scoring for Ayr, although they ended up drawing 1-1 at St Mirren.- James Collins took his tally for the season to 12 with a goal in Crawley's 3-1 win over Newport.

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