4/9/99 Erin Hibs 7 Parscelona 2

September 4th, 1999

Erin Hibs 7 Parscelona 2
Jack Kane Centre, Edinburgh

PARSCELONA SQUAD : A. Mooney, F. Clark, J. MacDougall, C. Ozog, A. Maxwell, C. Wilson, G. Cotter, K. Mackie, A. McLeod, S. Holland, Alex Mercer, Alasdair Mercer

Scorers for Parscelona:
J. MacDougall
K. Mackie

The start of the game gave some indication of what was to follow, as Hibs opened the scoring early on. The score remained at one-nil for some time while both teams struggled to create chances. On the occasions when crosses were put into the box, both teams seemed to lack the man in the centre ready to put them away.

Hibs' defence looked most vulnerable when Parscelona employed the long ball technique, and eventually this lead to the equaliser. A ball from midfield dropped over the Hibs defence where Keith "Chef" Mackie was waiting to pounce. Running with the ball, he found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper and made little mistake in converting the chance into a goal, his first for Parscelona.

Parscelona received a cruel blow when inside injury time in the first half Hibs grabbed a second goal.

The game continued in much the same vein as the first half, and Hibs grabbed another. Parscelona's defence was caught out and left a Hibs attacker with an excellent chance. Johnnie MacDougall and Alan Maxwell had differing ideas of how to clear the danger, and while Johnnie elected for the straightforward cynical trip, Alan attempted to kick the ball for a corner. Unfortunately Alan managed only to steer the ball past the helpless Ally Mooney in Parscelona's goals with pinpoint accuracy. While Alan could only stand and swear, Johnnie may have been fortunate that the ball went in, as his tackle would surely have merited some colour of card otherwise. (Disciplinary note: there was only one booking in this game, the first time a card has ever been shown in a Parscelona match - the honour went to Hibs' Steve Carr for a tussle with Cammy Wilson)

Hibs made it 4-1 shortly after. Parscelona looked as though they may fight back when a lob from midway inside the Hibs half courtesy of Johnnie MacDougall found its way over the keeper's head. Another player notches up his first Parscelona goal.

The game remained at 4-2 for some time. Parscelona had made a swap, bringing right midfielder Alan Maxwell into goals and allowing Ally Mooney outfield, in an effort to claw back some goals. Alas it didn't work out that way when Parscelona were caught out spectacularly at the back. While Johnnie's atempted block couldn't stop the Hibs winger getting the ball across, Chris Ozog was left with the task of marking two Hibs attackers. Despite the young fullback's efforts, the ball was headed down past Alan, who should probably have reached it.

At 5-2, Parscelona's defending didn't get any better. Chris Ozog, receiving no help at all on the right hand side, was once again left to mark two players, and couldn't stop another dangerous ball into the Hibs box. Alan dived out in an attempt to block the shot but the ball was hit so hard that it could only hit his head on the way in.

The game was over now, but Hibs made sure of it with one final effort. Parscelona failed to clear the ball out of their own box and were made to pay when a Hibs attacker fired the ball from close range past the helpless Grant Cotter and Alan Maxwell.

All in all, not our best performance.