1. Match Report
Competition – S.P.L. U19s League
Venue – Hibernian Training Centre
Fixture – Hibernian U19s v KILMARNOCK U19s
Date – 18/02/12
Max Rogers

2. 1 2
(38) Johnson (10)
Lindsay (27)
Kick-Off – 12pm
Weather – Very windy, game delayed in the first half due to a snow/sleet storm
Pitch – Soft
Max Rogers

3. System of Play
 Kilmarnock opted for a reasonably solid but flexible 4-5-1 formation. At times No. 10
Lindsay would move closer to No. 9 Winchester creating a 4-2-3-1 shape. The other
option they had was to push No. 7 Taylor and No. 11 Johnson closer to No 9.
Winchester. This could be considered to be a more attacking adjustment as they
were now utilizing the 4-3-3 formation.
Max Rogers

4.  The 4-5-1 formation which they started out with meant they were quite happy to
concede possession of the ball and hit Hibernian on the counter attack. At times
though they failed to support their lone striker. No. 9 Winchester provided a lot of
energy up front and worked extremely hard to force errors in the Hibernian defence.
 The three central midfielders all took turns to support attacks, often leaving one to
provide cover for the defence. They struggled when put under pressure when facing
their own goal. Neither one was particularly adept in the air and lost the majority of
headers. The two wide players – No. 7 Taylor and No. 11 Johnson – always provided
width, however Taylor played a bit more defensively than Johnson perhaps to offer
more protection to the right back.
 Both full backs broke from the defensive line but rarely overlapped their winger. No.
3 Thorburn was more attacking but positioned himself to support the winger from
behind instead of getting in front of him to stretch the defence. He can be slow on
the turn and may struggle against a tricky winger.
 Both centre backs No. 5 Ashcroft and No. 2 Barbour were not really starting the
attacks. They preferred to play simple passes out wide to either full back or in field
to a central midfielder. Both are strong in the air but found it difficult clearing the
ball when facing their own goal.
Max Rogers

5. The Players
Goalkeeper - Russell Cadwell
Right footed. Was never really tested throughout the game although he did make a fantastic
reaction save from a close range header. Is comfortable with the ball at his feet and
provides quick and accurate distribution. May struggle with high balls due to his small
stature.
Right Back – Ross Fisher
Right footed. Solid defender who enjoys defending rather than attacking. Caught a bit too
narrow at times which enabled Hibernian to attack down their left and get crosses into the
box.
Left Back – Greig Thorburn
Right footed. More attacking than the right back although he can be caught out with a quick
attacking transition due to his lack of pace. Linked up well with the left midfielder and
provided constant width and support.
Centre Back – Lee Ashcroft
Right footed. Had a comfortable game against the Hibernian attackers. Commanding in the
air although he can struggle with quick link up play via one touch passing. Kept the defence
organised and concentrated throughout the second half.
Centre Back – Ross Barbour
Right footed. Like Ashcroft he gave a solid performance throughout the 90 minutes. Good in
the air and comfortable in possession of the ball.
Right Midfield – Mark Taylor
Right footed. Didn’t really get involved in much of the game as he played quite defensively.
Made one good run in the first half to try and get on the end of a through ball played in
behind the Hibernian defence.
Central Midfield – Ross Lindsay
Right footed. Was given more of an attacking role than his fellow central midfielders. He
worked well with the striker and was always offering support alongside him. Showed this
when he broker from midfield to score the second goal.
Central Midfield – Jon Stynes
Right footed. The most defensive of the three midfielders, he looked to protect the back
four during attacks. He did sometimes get forward with another midfielder filling in for him.
Max Rogers

6. Caught on the ball a few times when facing his own goal and didn’t looked comfortable with
under high pressure.
Central Midfield – Ross Davidson
Right footed. Played as a box-to-box midfielder which highlighted his high energy levels. Has
a very good long range passing ability and liked to switch the ball to the other side of the
pitch in order to initiate a counter attack.
Left Midfield – Chrissy Johnson
Left footed. Attacking winger with lots of pace and trickery. His small stature means that he
can be quite difficult to knock of the ball due to good balance. He is very one footed
however. Exhibited his free kick ability with a great strike from the right hand side of the
pitch, curling the ball into the top right hand corner.
Striker – Jude Winchester
Right footed. Fantastic work rate and seemed to relish his role as a lone striker. Never
complained towards his team mates that he wasn’t getting support to close down the
Hibernian defenders. Very strong striker who can come deep to receive the ball to feet to
link up play or in the channels to run onto.
Max Rogers

7. Attacking Play
First Half
Type of Attack
37%
63%
Direct
Patient
Kilmarnock started the game by
playing direct passes through the
middle of the pitch to ease their
way into the contest. After five
minutes or so they began using
the flanks, especially the left, to
construct patient attacks
involving three or four players.
They only crossed the ball into the box three times during the first half, all of which were
intercepted by a Hibernian player and cleared safely. They did at times struggle to get
players into the box to support their lone striker, although they did favour playing through
the defensive channels.
Max Rogers

8. Second Half
Type of Attack
41%
59%
Direct
Patient
Due to their change in formation
in the second half, Kilmarnock
played a bit more direct as they
looked to keep Hibernian away
from their goal. The majority of
the play was again directed
towards their left hand side. In
the last ten minutes, as they
were holding on, every counter
attack was initiated via a long
pass.
In the second half they didn’t cross the ball very often, twice in all, with both crosses yet
again not finding a Kilmarnock player.
Max Rogers

9. Attacking Patterns
At goal kicks one centre back,
depending on the side of the goal
the kick was taken, would drop to
the edge of the 18 yard box. This
allowed Kilmarnock to start their
possession based attack. In the
second half all the goal kicks
were aimed towards the left
hand side of the pitch.
When No. 1 Cadwell had the ball
in hand he rarely kicked it long.
Again in an attempt to build-up
patiently he chose to throw the
ball to either full back for them to
then distribute further.
In an effort to draw the Hibernian
defenders out of position on both
sides of pitch No. 9 Winchester
dropped deep to receive the ball
from the midfield players who
had drawn their opposing
midfielders onto them through
neat passing play. This created
space in between the lines of
defence and midfield which
allowed Winchester to turn on
the ball and play a through ball to
the winger.
Max Rogers

10. In a similar build-up situation,
Kilmarnock looked to exploit their
ball playing ability. From the right
hand side they recycled
possession of the ball which again
drew the opponents across. The
ball was then quickly switched
across to the left hand side and
they subsequently countered and
scored a goal.
Max Rogers

11. Defensive Play
 In the first half Kilmarnock generally defended quite deep. This did cause them some
problems when the ball was around their box as Hibernian played with a high tempo
and looked to get in behind the defence at every opportunity with one touch
football.
 A result of this fast attacking play, Kilmarnock’s defenders began diving into tackles
which were being read by the Hibernian forwards who just knocked the ball past
them.
 Their midfield demonstrated a very slow defensive transition when Hibernian
countered them. Late runs into the box were seldom picked up by the Kilmarnock
defenders and created scoring opportunities.
 The focus in the second half for Kilmarnock was to hold on to their one goal lead.
They did this extremely well and remained very disciplined, this time exhibiting much
more efficient and quicker defensive transitions. This allowed them to set up a very
deep defensive block that Hibernian struggled to break.
First Half Second Half
 Hibernian’s goal came from a corner kick. The attacker lost his marker and was
allowed to score a free header. Throughout the game the Kilmarnock defenders
looked uncomfortable when dealing with driven crosses into the area between
the six yard box and penalty area. Hibernian failed to exploit this enough.
Max Rogers

12. Set-Pieces
Corners Against Corner For 1
Corner For 2 Corner For 3
Free Kick For 1 Free Kick For 2
Max Rogers

13. The first re-start Kilmarnock had
saw the striker play the ball back
into a central midfielder. He then
attempted to turn on the ball
however he had been quickly
closed down by the Hibernian
strikers who regained possession
of the ball.
Max Rogers