The rain that had fallen for almost three days disappeared to allow the sun a brief appearance at Millfield last Saturday as the Hi Hi’s entertained Thornton Hibs in the first of a double header against their Fife opponents. Previous meetings had mainly been tight affairs but Thornton’s record this season was unremarkable. Hi Hi’s manager Scott Bonar had to make a number of changes following his sides Scottish Cup defeat at Brechin. Ross King, Seamus Russell, Gabri Auriemma and recent signing Alessan Jones were unavailable for different reasons, and Zach Szemis, Aaron Congalton, Fraser Eddington all featured in the starting line up. The sun attracted another good crowd (official attendance 216) to Millfield and the home side missed a number of clear cut chances in the opening half. Shaun Hill, Euan Watson and Fraser Eddington all passed up good opportunities and it remained goalless at half time. This raised Thornton’s confidence and the Fifers gave themselves another boost when they opened the scoring in the 57th minute. Manager Bonar looked to his bench and sent on 18 year old Robbie King, recently recalled from a loan spell at Arniston. The youngster made an immediate impact, setting up Guy McGarry who struck the bar from close range. With around twenty minutes remaining King brought his side level with a close range finish, and the Hi Hi’s sent on another teenager, Jack Neilson, as they pushed for the three points. Neilson proved to be the matchwinner in the 83rd minute when a darting run by King opened up the Hibs defence and Neilson beat the goalkeeper with a neat finish. A bit too close for comfort compared to recent Millfield matches but three points to keep Haddington at the top of the league. Another tough ninety minutes is in prospect at Thornton on Saturday and the visitors can expect another tough test.
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