Josh Campbell celebrates the first of his doubleSNS

Josh Campbell celebrates the first of his double

At a glance

  • Josh Campbell heads in opener & adds close-range second

  • Hibs' third lashed in by Jordan Obita before break

  • Ben Broggio crashes in consolation but Falkirk four points behind Hibs

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

Falkirk v Hibernian highlights

09/05/26

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Hibernian moved closer to claiming European football for next season with a dominant win at Falkirk, arresting a run of three straight Scottish Premiership losses.

David Gray said pre-match this was his side's biggest game of the season, knowing a Celtic win in the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline would guarantee the fifth-place Premiership side a place in the Conference League qualifiers.

The head coach will have been delighted with the positive start his side made.

An early corner from Jordan Obita was met by Josh Campbell at the back post, timing his run well, having been left unmarked inside the area.

Campbell then ghosted in at the back post to meet Martin Boyle's terrific whipped cross to double Hibs' lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

Falkirk failed to make a spell of slight dominance pay, and found themselves three behind when Felix Passlack's driven cross evaded Boyle but fell to Obita, who lashed it in underneath goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth.

A relatively sedate second half followed the restart, with Ben Broggio's thunderous strike pulling one back for the hosts with 15 minutes to go.

John McGlynn's side left it too late to find a route back into the game though, despite a late flurry of pressure on the Hibs backline.

Hibs now sit three points off fourth-place Motherwell ahead of their match with league-leaders Motherwell on Saturday (20:00 BST).

Graphic

Analysis: Hibs step up when it matters most

Having lost three on the bounce against Aberdeen, Hearts and Celtic, Hibs will have been looking over their shoulder at Falkirk and fretting about the prospect of being leapfrogged by McGlynn's side.

Their fast start had all but secured just a second win in nine by the time the half-time whistle peeped, but their second-half showing failed to match the level of intensity shown in the first.

Composed and calm when necessary, Gray's side saw out the game with relative ease and limited Falkirk to a sole shot on target when Broggio crashed in.

For Falkirk, McGlynn insisted midweek there was "no pressure" on his side to pip Hibs to fifth and in fairness, they played like a side whose season was petering out.

Since their crushing semi-final loss to rivals Dunfermline, they've been hammered by Celtic but edged past Motherwell, but a European berth seems a step too far in their first top-flight season in 15 years.

What the managers said

Falkirk manager John McGlynn: "You can't give Hibs the start that we gave them, a goal in two minutes, a very cheap corner kick we conceded and we didn't defend it.

"You give yourself a poor start in the game, you give Hibs a lot of encouragement, you give them a base to go from.

"Although I thought we played quite well after that, I thought we passed the ball really well.

"I thought we got down the sides, we got some balls in the box without maybe getting anyone on the end of it and didn't really force the goalkeeper into many saves.

Hibernian head coach David Gray: "Delighted for the players.

"I know there was a lot of pressure going into the game today. I thought our first-half performance was really, really good in terms of real difficult pitch, this surface, a difficult place to come and play.

"But the players carried out that game plan really well in the first half, scored three really good goals and a real professional performance in the second half.

"In terms of the last three games, the results and the challenges we faced, they certainly got the rewards today."

What's next for these sides?

Falkirk are away to Hearts on Wednesday (20:00 BST), with Hibs at Rangers at the same time.

Player of the match

J. Campbell
8.21
11 B. Broggio
5.59
28 F. Lissah
5.30
5 L. Henderson
5.08
15 L. Neilson
4.86
3 L. McCann
4.68
29 C. Miller
4.67
16 B. Stewart
4.64
17 H. Cartwright
4.63
8 B. Spencer
4.60
20 C. Allan
4.57
22 K. Wilson
4.45
21 D. Tait
4.32
23 E. Ross
4.19
27 B. Parkinson
3.95
14 F. Yeats
3.75
1 N. Hogarth
3.48
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