Hibs 5, Clyde 0: Demolition Doidge blows away Bully Wee with 13-minute treble as Lee Johnson enjoys success in first game

A Christian Doidge hat-trick and goals from Josh Campbell and Elias Melkersen gave Hibs a comfortable 5-0 win against Clyde in their opening group match of the Premier Sports Cup.

Doidge bagged his treble in just 13 minutes as the Easter Road side rattled in four goals in 15 minutes against a Bully Wee side who just couldn’t cope with their Premiership opponents in a blistering first-half performance.

Lee Johnson was without the services of Momodou Bojang, Jair Tavares, and Élie Youan, while Paul Hanlon, Kyle Magennis, Demetri Mitchell, and Kevin Nisbet remain sidelined due to injury.

There were debuts for summer signings David Marshall, who captained the team, and Nohan Kenneh while fellow new boys Kyle McClelland, Aiden McGeady, and Lewis Miller were named among the substitutes.

Hibs started strongly with Campbell shooting wide after ten minutes before a Ryan Porteous cross was just out of reach of Doidge at the back post.

It was the Welshman who had the hosts’ first real chance of note as he headed a Lewis Stevenson cross narrowly wide of Neil Parry’s left-hand post on the quarter-hour.

Two minutes later he got his goal, bundling in from close range after Melkersen’s cross had taken a looping deflection. Six minutes later the Norwegian double Hibs’ lead, curling a low shot past Parry from inside the area after Clyde had failed to clear their lines.

Doidge grabbed his second and Hibs’ third shortly before the half-hour mark. Jake Doyle-Hayes danced through the Clyde defence and played in the striker who dinked the ball past Parry.

Christian Doidge celebrates his second goal of the afternoon

Sixty seconds later Doidge sealed his treble, finishing from close range after good work from Cadden as the Capital club threatened to run up a cricket score.

Three minutes before the break Campbell made it five, latching onto Ewan Henderson’s through-ball and finding the back of the net via a deflection.

Johnson introduced McClelland for Bushiri at the interval and the former Rangers kid put in an assured performance at the back alongside Porteous.

Melkersen had a chance to make it six not long after the restart but contrived to fire wide after getting the break of the ball on the edge of the area.

After that the game largely petered out. Clyde offered very little in the final third and Hibs dominated the ball without really threatening Parry. Melkersen had a couple of half-chances and Porteous powered a header over from a corner.

There were debuts for McGeady, Miller, and Dylan Tait, while Joe Newell shook off a slight knock to play the final half hour. The midfielder had a late chance but spooned his effort wide from the edge of the area.

There was a feeling that Hibs took their foot off the gas in the second period, and Johnson admitted afterwards that the tempo had fallen. But the new manager will have seen plenty he liked in the performance – even if he did hint that there were some things needing additional work on the training ground.

Hibs travel to Falkirk on Tuesday hoping to build on the positives from their opening League Cup game.

Hibs: Marshall, Cadden, Porteous, Bushiri, Stevenson, Doyle-Hayes, Kenneh, Campbell, Henderson, Melkersen, Doidge. Subs not used: Dabrowski, Miller, McClelland, Delferriere, Blaney, Hauge, Newell, Tait, McGeady.

Clyde: Parry, Lyon, P Grant, McLean, R Grant, Duthie, Gomis, Cunningham, Roberts, Rodden, Cuddihy. Subs not used: Bradley-Hurst, Cassidy, Allan, Kennedy, McDonald, Cameron, Scullion, Ross, Hendji.