Match Review: Hibernians FC vs International Lions FC

• GK Billy Wyatt
• DF Jack Graham
• DF Diego Romero
• DF Sam McGough
• DF Jaison Kimura
• MD Liam Buckley
• MD Tiago Coelho
• MD Misra Maayan
• MD Will Julius
• MD Pedro Parra
• ST David Bolton

• MD Matthew Yeo
• MD Josh Brimblecombe
• ST Jerome Van Doorn
• ST James Baldwin

Hibs Fight Back to Draw in Much-Improved Performance

Another match, another deficit at the half. But this time, Hibs ripped up the script and fought back to earn a 2-2 draw, and were the better team throughout the match. The match opened with Hibs pressing high and camping out in the Lions half, forcing misplaced passes from the opposition and winning the ball high, without creating any clearcut chances. Out of nowhere through, the Lions took the lead; a long crossfield ball found their right winger in space, and he drove to the byline and fizzed in a cross. Their striker timed his run in front of the Hibs defenders and put it away at the near post. 1-0. The rest of the half Hibs were determined to make amends, with Tiago and Liam helping to dictate the tempo and the Hibs high line working well against a pacey Lions attack. The first big chance of the half fell to Bolts, when Will found him with a reverse no-look pass just inside the area, but he dragged his shot wide, perhaps panicked by Maayan’s screaming. As fate would have it, the Lions went up the other end and scored after a defensive error gifted them an empty net, an invitation their forward couldn’t refuse. Hibs were down 2-0 despite having the better of it, but refused to be cowed, with Liam missing a glorious chance from 2.14 yards out, somehow contriving to head wide. 

Finally, Hibs’ luck turned during a corner, when Diego was manhandled to the ground. Brad, in his final match as a cosmo ref, nailed the call and Bolts dispatched the penalty with ease. A brief scare came immediately after when the Lions had the ball in the back of the net, only for the linesman to flag for offside. 2-1 at the break. In the second half, Hibs began where they left off and were at it immediately; Josh snapping into tackles and Jerome causing problems for their defense. Soon Hibs were level. From another of Will’s corners, the Lions failed to deal with the danger and Bolts sniffed the opportunity to stab the ball home. Both teams had chances to win the match after that, but neither were able to be clinical enough in the final third, and had to settle for a point each. After a few niggly injuries, Hibs finished with a much-changed back line, but everyone performed admirably and put a strong shift in, with James’ bursts down the right from fullback a particularly impressive feature. Good luck to the Lions and thanks again to Brad for his years of Cosmo service.

• Jarar GK
• Charif Taieb DF
• Nordine Talhi DF
• Oussama Labib DF
• Marc Fedal DF
• Amine Cherif MD
• Nicolas Beninger MD
• Tim Cheong MD
• Sergio Moreno ST
• David Park ST
• Robert Eziakor ST

• Raynal Singh DF
• Ilzan Faris DF
• Salvador Franko ST
• Sivarajam ST

Despite the fatigue and some missing players, it was a good draw at the end.

We started the game with few important missing players from our previous game against SC Gaulois. With our keeper absent, Max and Aswhin not there due to work shift and Julio injured after a bones fracture during the first game it's now Charif's turn to get a fracture (fibula) on very (too) engaged contact with an opposing player after only 20 min game .. It's already the second long injury after 2 games only... Despite all the context, Int' Lions started strongly, taking control of the game and securing a 2-0 lead at the 35min, thanks to our GOALeador Robert! Clinical for the first goal and after a fantastic cross from Amine ALVES.. The second goal came after a mistake from the Hibs defense and a long well-placed shot from Robert in a empty goal. This shows great offensive capability and a good understanding of how to break down the opposition’s defense. The first 30 min performance likely demonstrated solid team communication and positioning, but a penalty for hibs just before the half time to reduce the score to 2-1, seems the team lost momentum. Int' Lions Scored a 3rd goal by our 17yo central back Marc beckenbauer after a beautiful header but the referee decided otherwise by calling it offside. Perhaps the opponent came out more aggressive in second half and int' Lions intensity dropped, leading to the eventual draw after a second goal during another set piece (corner) and the second goal for Bolton. 2-2, Both teams were pushing to score the 3rd goal, but Brad for his last cosmo league game, whistle (at the 88min?!) the end of the game (probably the emotion after his long referee career in Singapore... ;-) we wish him all the best for the future. A fair draw and probably a good point to take for both team after a pleasant game. Good season to the Hibs team and all the best.