16th Aug 2026 Hibernian 1 Partick Thistle 0 (League Cup 2nd Round)

matches:2026-27: ← 08game 0910 →

	David Gray	Mark Wilson	42y, 2m, 11d

		Tony Watt
		Alex Samuel

Owen Elding (0-1, 12 mins)
Jack Iredale (0-1, 12 mins)
Jack Iredale; Josh Campbell		Paddy Reading; Ethan Ingram

Nathan Lowe (Martin Boyle, 60 mins); Jamie McGrath (Ante Šuto, 60 mins); Jack Iredale (Felix Passlack, 60 mins); Joe Newell (Miguel Chaiwa, 73 mins); Owen Elding (Josh Campbell, 73 mins)		Robbie Crawford (Ben Stanway, 60 mins); Tony Watt (Alex Samuel, 60 mins); Daniel O'Reilly (Ethan Ingram, 60 mins); Tsoanelo Letsosa (Ben Dempsey, 69 mins); Ben McPherson (Cammy Logan, 72 mins)

	Raphael Sallinger	Liam McFarlane	21y, 10m, 21d
	former Jag Kanayo Megwa	Ben McPherson	22y, 4m, 28d
	Adam Mayor	Paddy Reading	27y, 2m, 18d
	Jack Iredale	Cale Loughrey	25y, 0m, 12d
	Warren O'Hora	Daniel O'Reilly	31y, 4m, 5d
	Jason Kerr	Oisin Smyth	26y, 3m, 11d
	Josh Mulligan	Robbie Crawford	32y, 1m, 25d
	Joe Newell	Tsoanelo Letsosa	22y, 2m, 10d
	Nathan Lowe	Tony Watt	32y, 7m, 18d
	Jamie McGrath	Seb Drozd	23y, 3m, 19d
	Owen Elding	Aidan Fitzpatrick	25y, 4m, 27d

			26y, 4m, 7d

	Jordan Smith	Lewis Budinauckas	24y, 1m, 28d
	Martin Boyle	Cammy Logan	24y, 6m, 19d
	Miguel Chaiwa	Ben Dempsey	26y, 8m, 22d
	Thibault Klidjé	Alex Samuel	30y, 10m, 27d
	Nicky Cadden	Ethan Ingram	23y, 4m, 0d
	Ante Šuto	Matthew Falconer	19y, 5m, 24d
	Felix Passlack	Ben Stanway	21y, 10m, 27d
	Josh Campbell	Josh Miller	17y, 3m, 24d
	Azeem Abdulai	Thomas Horn	19y, 7m, 5d

notes

Both sides generally in playing order.

TTA report

Thistle took too long to settle, leaving lots of space for Hibs to utilise. A break down the left saw the ball driven across and met at the back post for 1-0 (12). That ended the scoring but Thistle took the game to Hibs. Excellent play created a number of good chances but a leveller proved illusive. A pen to Thistle for handball was nullified by VAR.

TTA man of the match

LIAM McFARLANE answered a few questions today, looking very much at home against top tier opposition. Was always in good command of his area and pulled off a couple of tremendous saves to keep Thistle in it 'til the end.

Media report

Amy Canavan, 16-Aug-2026, bbc.com

Owen Elding's first-half goal was enough for Hibernian to edge out Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle to reach the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals. The 20-year-old's simple back-post finish after seven minutes - as well as an overturned Thistle penalty decision - allowed David Gray’s somewhat flat side to progress and round off a positive eight-day period for the Easter Road side. Having set up a Conference League play-off against Gent - who they will face in Belgium on Thursday - and after beating Rangers at Ibrox in their latest domestic league outing, Gray challenged his players to make a good week a great one.

Hibernian got off to the perfect start when Jack Iredale's pinpoint ball from the left found the waiting Elding to fire home. Rather than kick on against their second-tier visitors, though, Hibs struggled to test Thistle for the remainder of the half, until Elding’s fierce strike was touched on to the crossbar by Jags shot-stopper Liam McFarlane. The Irishman went close again after the break, latching on to Nathan Lowe's lovely pass, but a heavy touch when one-on-one with McFarlane allowed the goalkeeper to smother. Such profligacy was nearly punished when referee Duncan Nicolson pointed to the spot, penalising captain Joe Newell for a handball in the area. The Hibs skipper was stunned, as were supporters, but the hosts were soon relieved when the video assistant referee called the referee to the monitor to reverse his decision. That was a warning shot Hibs did not exactly take heed of, though, as Thistle continued pushing for an equaliser. Raphael Sallinger was kept on his toes, pulling off an impressive low save to deny Oisin Smyth before Ben Stanway sent his header wide.

Analysis: Energetic Elding pivotal for lacklustre Hibs These are early days in the 20-year-old's Hibs career, but Elding already looks to have superb future prospects. At the heart of anything in an attacking sense for the hosts, Elding was a handful Thistle just couldn't get a grasp of. His bursts of pace and power will be strengthened even further if he just fine-tunes his precision in front of goal. One goal could have been three. It certainly would have made for a less nervy end at Easter Road. Though they largely had the best of the chances, Thistle's volume of attempts on goal in the latter stages had supporters screaming. It's been a big week or so for Gray's men, and an equally important one is looming. Gent might have been on their minds, but the head coach was clear this competition was crucial. When they do head for Belgium, they will need to be a whole lot better than they were against a gutsy Thistle side. This result goes down as yet another near-miss for Mark Wilson's Thistle against a top-flight team. They will once again be left thinking 'what if?' - perhaps with a gripe at VAR - but they ought to take great confidence from their performance as they return to their pursuit of Premiership promotion.

Reaction

Partick Thistle head coach Mark Wilson:

We started the game poorly, too many unforced errors and against Premiership sides you get punished when you start like that. I thought we were brilliant in the second half, played on the front foot, maybe not as many clear-cut chances as we'd like. I'm super pleased with the boys and how they performed.

Hibernian head coach David Gray:

I've just massively praised the players because of everything that went into this week. Winning at Ibrox, travelling to Macedonia and getting through that tie, the quick turnaround and getting through the cup, it was always going to be a really difficult game. We're in the next round of the cup, we're competing at every level and we want this to continue for as long as we can.

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