Hibs 3-0 Spartans: Hibs manager Dean Gibson praises team's stark new year improvement as they knock out Spartans in Scottish Cup

Hibs manager Dean Gibson was overjoyed with his team’s clinical finishing as they ran out 3-0 winners at Meadowbank in the Scottish Cup fourth round, however Spartans boss Debbi McCulloch insists the winter break adversely affected her team.

Goals from Kristy Morrison, Eilidh Adams and Ava Kuyken ensured Hibs cruised through to the next round. It was the first game of 2023 for both sides. Gibson was overjoyed at his team's clinical performance.

“The girls were on it”, Gibson told the Edinburgh Evening News. “We have put more pressure to take responsibility for their finishing. There is only so much that I can do, or the defenders can do, we need the attacking players on it as well. They were on it from the start and hopefully that can continue.”

The first half was tight with little to separate the two teams. Rebecca Galbraith came closest to an early opener after she was teed up inside the box but was unable to put Spartans in front. Morrison gave Hibs the lead on 36 minutes with Adams playing a fantastic through ball to the striker who had the time to slide it into the bottom left corner.

The draw for the fifth round of the Scottish Cup takes place on Monday. Credit: Colin Poultney.

A well struck corner caused chaos inside the Spartans box allowing Adams to slam the ball into the net to double the hosts lead in the second half. Hibs made it 3-0 midway through the half as the ball fell to Kuyken who was unmarked inside the box and she made no mistake. New signings Brooke Nunn and Katie Lockwood came on late for their debuts as Hibs saw out the win to progress to the next round.

“They are both quality players” Gibson continued. “They are both at different levels to where they are at right now. Nunn is in preseason mode whereas Lockwood is ready to go because of how their seasons were. Lockwood is ahead in terms of fitness and sharpness. Once they are up to speed they will be good additions to not only Hibs but to the league.”

McCulloch was less than pleased with her team’s performance, but said the one-month gap her team have had between competitive games had a part to play in the result. “The first 25 minutes we dominated the game without creating too much but we were in a good position”, she stated.

“A couple of decisions didn't go our way and they scored a lucky goal. We were still in it at half time and wanted a positive reaction and it didn't happen and that is unacceptable for us and we know that. There's quite a bit of work to do. We need players to change some things and the mistakes that we continue to make. As much as we wanted a cup run we can turn our attention to the league and getting into the top six.

“The break is a really difficult period to try and arrange friendships. This was a really challenging time with the festive break, your mindset and how you apply yourself. We didn’t stop, we continued to train and fitness shouldn't be an issue for us. Today we didn't look as sharp as I expected us to look. We are all playing under the same circumstances.”