The game started in a steady downpour and early on Stevie Woods showed good handling in treacherous conditions. Offiong’s early touches gave no hint of what was to come, he had a few poor touches and aimless runs but how that changed!
His three assists were remarkably similar. All of them followed fast runs that left defenders in his wake. All were from the inside left position and all resulted in his arriving at the byeline before dispatching perfect passes across the face of goal. Twice Andy Scott was the grateful recipient and for the third Keith Lasley was presented with an easy chance from six yards.
The Hibs defence eventually woke up to the fact that the tall, leggy striker was performing a one man demolition job. Soon his runs were being brought to an end by a series of fouls. In particular there is the example of his effort in the seventy fifth minute. Offy collected the ball on the half way line and despite the close attention of three Hibs midfielders he escaped with the ball. In less than a dozen of his long strides he had passed another couple of defenders before the shirt was almost torn from his back in a desperate attempt to stop him.
Sadly he failed to make progress when he avoided the offside flag to find himself with only the keeper to beat as the game drew to a close.
There were others on the park and they played their part in the easy win. The midfield centrebacks, Quinn and Kinniburgh looked solid throughout and their positional understanding contributed to Stevie’s clean sheet.
David Clarke looked sharp from left midfield and the Lasley/Ramsay partnership looked good on the left.
A good night’s work for the second string and it may be that Offiong has done enough to earn a place on Staurday’s teamsheet.
Team: Woods, Ramsey, Crawley, Kinniburgh, Quinn, Ballantyne, Lasley, MacDonald, Offiong, Scott, Clarke