Connor Young double helps Hibs Under-18s to victory on the road at Aberdeen

A Connor Young double either side of a Malik Zaid strike gave Hibs Under-18s a straightforward 3-0 victory over their Aberdeen counterparts at Cormack Park on Friday afternoon.

Striker Young opened the scoring late in the first half with Zaid doubling the visitors’ advantage around the hour mark and Young grabbing his second and Hibs’ third near the end.

The victory puts Gareth Evans’ side on 46 points, one behind second-placed Hearts and five behind league-leaders Rangers, but with several games in hand on both teams.

Hibs started strongly with Young and Zaid linking up well in the final third, the former having a couple of sights of goal, and the pair linked up for the opener after a scrappy first period.

Malik Zaid, left, and Connor Young with a brace got the goals in Hibs U18s' 3-0 win against Aberdeen. Picture: Maurice Dougan

Zaid, who recently signed a one-year contract extension, won the ball in midfield and played a one-two with Young who collected the return pass and from just inside the box netted the opener with his favoured left foot.

Hibs started the second half strongly and Murray Aiken cracked a fierce effort off the crossbar after a lung-bursting run from midfield.

With Hibs dominating proceedings there was little surprise when they increased their lead, Jacob Blaney’s clipped cross to the back post nodded home by Zaid with the Dons defence at sixes and sevens.

Aiken saw a shot cleared off the line following a clever backheel by Young as Hibs pushed for a third to kill the game, and Young had another couple of half-chances.

Eventually the third goal did arrive, Blaney picking out Aiken who laid the ball off for Young to fizz a shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

Hibs: Johnson, J MacIntyre, Blaney, Weir, Megwa, O MacIntyre, Aiken, Zaid (Molotnikov), McCulloch (Wylie), Laidlaw, Young. Subs not used: Carter, Hastie, Watt.

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