Hibs Under-18s maintain unbeaten run with scrappy draw at Kilmarnock

Hibs Under-18s recorded a 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock on Friday night in their first competitive outing since last month.

Josh O'Connor increased his tally for the season with Hibs' goal at Rugby Park

A Josh O’Connor penalty cancelled out David Watson’s opener for the hosts and although the visitors were unable to add to their tally, they remain unbeaten in the league as they seek to better last season’s second-place finish.

The Covid-19 outbreak that forced the postponement of two first-team fixtures had also put paid to the youngsters’ fixture list, with their last game a 6-0 victory over Hamilton Accies at the Hibernian Training Centre on October 30 but their return to action at Rugby Park got the all-clear.

The hosts started brightly, hitting the side netting early on, while Hibs had strong shouts for a penalty waved away after Connor Young was brought down by Killie ‘keeper George O’Connor.

Perhaps feeling the effect of nearly three weeks without football, the wee Hibees appeared rusty and home captain Watson capitalised on some indecision in the penalty area to open the scoring.

Hibs hit back through O’Connor, who beat his namesake from the penalty spot to level matters, but the striker had a second ruled out moments later despite looking like he had beaten the offside trap.

Ten minutes before the break Hibs were appealing for another penalty to no avail; Young upended as he shaped to shoot after slaloming past three challenges.

The second half was a quieter affair with Hibs struggling to find the fluidity present in some of their previous games although Killie might have nicked the win had Mack Weir not cleared an effort off the line to ensure a share of the spoils.

Hibs: Johnson, Megwa, Weir, O MacIntyre, Aiken, Hamilton, Wylie, J MacIntyre, Laidlaw, Young, O’Connor. Subs used: Zaid, Molotnikov