Tavares and Zaid on target again for Hibs development squad in Gretna friendly

The Hibs development team and Gretna FC 2008 played out a 2-2 draw at Raydale Park on Monday night in the third pre-season friendly for Guillaume Beuzelin’s charges.

Hibs midfielder Malek Zaid scores the opening goal of the game. Picture: Contributed

Following on from a 2-2 draw with East of Scotland side Dunbar United at New Countess Park earlier this month, and a narrow 3-2 defeat by Berwick Rangers on Saturday July 6, Hibs returned south to take on Berwick’s Lowland League colleagues with another youthful second-string side, with Malek Zaid and Jair Tavares on target for the visitors.

Max Boruc returned to the starting line-up after featuring against Dunbar and missing the Berwick friendly through his involvement with the first team training camp in Marbella, while Darren McGregor continued in a defence unchanged from the Shielfield Park defeat alongside Rory Whittaker, Owen Hastie, and Oscar MacIntyre.

Robbie Hamilton and Alfie Smith were joined in midfield by Zaid, while Harry Wright and Tavares started on either side of a trialist centre-forward. Hibs started strongly in the evening sun and took the lead when Tavares played a cute through-ball to Zaid, who clipped it past Charlie Cowie in the Gretna goal. The trialist then went close when his powerful header from Smith’s cross was deftly tipped over by Cowie. Tavares had a chance of his own that scuttled just wide of the far post while MacIntyre fired narrowly over from close range as Hibs sought a second goal.

Into the second half and Tavares nearly set up Zaid again, the Libyan-born midfielder just failing to connect with the winger’s cutback and Wright, arriving at the back post, saw his follow-up effort blocked. When Hibs did extend their lead it was Zaid and Tavares combining again, the former playing in the Portuguese attacker who finished high past Cowie for his second goal in three matches.

Joe Dixon pulled one back for the hosts, nodding in from close range after a free kick had come back off Boruc’s crossbar, with Ronan Kearney sweeping home the equaliser after a swift attacking move down the right-hand side.

Hibs pushed for a winner and came closest when a Tavares corner was headed back across goal by McGregor but Zaid was unable to get anything on the ball to turn it home in what was the final attack of the encounter.

Speaking afterwards, Gretna boss Bryan Gilfillan expressed delight with how his team had performed – especially given they had played just two days earlier against Penrith AFC. “I genuinely thought it was a joy to watch,” he said. “Every aspect of our game was really top-notch, from front to middle to back. Everything we’ve asked the players to do and work on, they did. And to get that level of performance after 12 sessions and five games – credit to the players. It was a hard game on Saturday and to go again on Monday and hit the standards they did was really pleasing, especially after such a quick turnaround. There weren’t a lot of negatives from that at all.”

Hibs: Boruc, Whittaker, McGregor, Hastie, O MacIntyre, Smith, Hamilton, Zaid, Wright, Trialist, Tavares. Subs: Sinnefoh, McGrath, Calder, Bruce, Bulloch, Landers, Craig, McGarva, Cleland