[ritchiebaby]

Hibs will probably take double their normal crowd to Hampden on Saturday for the Scottish Cup Semi-final. I'm not sure what they normally do on a Saturday, but they're not at Easter Road. Of course they're perhaps weegie gloryhunters looking for a decent team to follow.

I'm certain Falkirk will give it everything they've got, as they now look to be out of the race for a top four Championship play-off slot. As Hibs have found out already this season, they are a tough nut to crack, having beaten Hibs twice and drawn once. Recently they've been a bit inconsistent, having lost games to Livingston and Dumbarton within the last month.

For once history will be on the side of the Hibees, as the two teams have met 8 times in the Scottish Cup, Hibs winning on each occasion. The last occasion was 2 years ago, when Hibs won 4-3 after being 0-3 down.

It's a big day out with a major reward at stake, and nothing less than total commitment to the cause will do, so my Hibs team would be:-

Oxley,
Forster, Hanlon, Fontaine, Stevenson,
Stanton, McGeouch, Robertson, Allan,
El Alagui, Cummings.

Subs - Fyvie, Handling, Dja Djedje.

[ritchiebaby]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32089407

Bad news for Hibs fans - Dominique Malonga has been passed fit to play tomorrow!  The good news is surely that Jason Cummings will keep him out of the side.

Obviously I'd like the game to be as exciting as the last Cup game against Falkirk with the same result. Let's put on a show for the fans and the TV cameras. 

[St Charles Owl]

Good luck in this one, always nice to reach a Cup Final. The only issue may be the players taking their eyes off the ultimate goal this season of promotion but I am sure Stubbs will keep them in check.

[HerefordBull]

Sums Hibs season up......all the pressure and chances but cannot defend a cross ball ......one chance and its all over for another year.

It would be nice to think that the 17 K fans Hibs took to Hampden will be at ER for the remaining games this season to help the promotion push.....but its not going to happen!

GGTTH

[Lord Snooty]

Oh dear. How many years is it now?

[Fredstersafool]

Just the 113 snooty

[ritchiebaby]

Thanks, fred, I'd almost forgotten.

A feeling of deja vu strikes all Hibs fans after today's match. It's become a regular feature of my match threads that I say that we don't score enough goals when we're on top. Guess what happened today?  13 attempts and only 3 on target (+ 2 hitting the woodwork). Luck was against us there, especially the first time when the rebound went straight into a grounded Jamie Macdonald's hands, with two Hibs players the only others close. But, and it's developing into a big but, we should have solved that problem by now. No excuses from me, Falkirk deserved to go through because they defended stoutly and took their chance well - just a reminder to Hibs, goals win games, not chances.

I thought John Beaton was probably their man of the match, intercepting two Hibs passes in the second half.   Our man of the match was surely Scott Allan - OK, not everything he tries comes off and he hasn't a defensive bone in his body, but he is the one Hibs player who can provide the attacking intent required.

There's always next year.

[Lord Snooty]

114th time lucky, as the old saying goes.

[0762]

Well done Falkirk!   We all knew Houston's game plan - park the bus, hold out for an hour and try to nick the sucker goal in the latter stages of the game - it worked a treat again: no bother as Hibs did their usual self-destruct job - can't score the crucial goals that were there to be taken against a poor team but don't lose the sucker goal! Falkirk had 4-1 odds against them to win this semi-final and I took up that bet for once with £25 for a straight win - a good payback in a match that I just knew Hibs were gonna do their usual losing fling and so it came to pass. As for any play-off chance? Forget it! They have absolutely no bottle in big games and they've proved it often enough this season even against inferior opposition like Falkirk whose defence I fear will lose 4 or 5 goals to Celtic in the final if the hoops beat ICT tomorrow afternoon!

[ritchiebaby]

You're right there, 0762. We both know Hibs biggest problem and it's still there. The trouble is astute managers like Peter Houston know it as well and have got their plans laid accordingly. Another game we should have won, but didn't.