Ronnie Swan Tournament: Spartans secure silverware with Hibs win

Posted on Sunday, July 9th, 2017

Spartans emphatic 3-1 victory over Hibernian saw them make it two wins out of two and lift the Ronnie Swan Trophy at Ainslie Park.

The opening forty five minutes saw the woodwork rattled, fine saves and a bizarre goal that earned Spartans the lead at the break.

It was a solid start by the home side, fielding no fewer than five trialists in a squad much changed from 24 hours previous.

Hibs keeper Dabrowski was called into action early on with a flying punching save to keep Spartans at bay.

Ross Guthrie came close to opening his account midway through the half when he looked to capitalise just inside the box however his shot narrowly evaded the base of the post.

The breakthrough came with six minutes left in the half.  A cross from the Spartans Trialist wearing No.8 was intercepted by Jamie Gullan.  His pass back caused the keeper to get into fankle and the ball found its way into the net.

HT: Spartans 1-0 Hibernian

Scott Maxwell almost doubled the lead early in the second half when he produced a lung bursting run into the box, only to be denied by a fine stop by Dabrowski.

That lead was to extend six minutes after the restart.  A corner kick by Jamie Dishington landed into the six yard box causing Dabrowski to collide with one his defenders and Trialist No. 9 nudged home from close range.

With an hour on the clock, Lewis Allan capitalised on a defensive faux-pas and halved the deficit as his effort flew past an exposed Andrew Stobie.

Spartans rallied and were passing the ball around with some panache in the rain.  Jack Nixon almost prospered from one such move, only to see his strike ruffle the outside of the net.

Then, with the game heading into injury time, Blair Atkinson ensured the Ronnie Swan Trophy stayed at Ainslie Park when he unleased a powerful low drive that left Dabrownski with little chance.

FT: Spartans 3-1 Hibernian