7.25pm

Nottingham Forest defender Tony Vaughan has arrived at Fir Park on trial.  The 27-year-old has just returned to full fitness after being out for three months with a knee ligament injury.  Vaughan hasn't featured in the Forest first team for over a year and had a spell on loan with Mansfield earlier this season.  He will be out of contract in the summer and has been told he can leave the City Ground now for free.

Further details on Tony Vaughan are available here and here.

The Under-21s returned to action last night, and recorded an excellent 3-1 victory at Easter Road with goals from Shaun Fagan, Keith Lasley and a mystery trialist - believed to be Steven Craig.  Apparently Soren Larsen didn't play.

The Scotsman ran a report of the match, but far more interesting is the following summary kindly sent to us by Paul Johnston of www.hibeesbounce.com.

WELL WORTH IT

"Darkness falls across the land, the midnite hour is close at hand, 
Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y'awl's neighbourhood, 
And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down, 
Must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse's shell 
The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years 
And grizzy ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom 
And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver 
For no mere mortal can resist, the evil of the thriller 
Can you dig it?!!!" 

Well, a thriller this certainly was not. On the night of a full moon, the only thing shining on the pitch was a determined and well-organised Motherwell side. 

A large crowd packed into the West Stand with the anticipation of an appearance from long term injury victims Freddie Arpinon, Janus Matyus and our joint top scorer Gary O'Connor. The fans weren't disappointed as they all played, with only O'Connor not playing the full 90 minutes. 

O'Connor had his first sniff at goal when he volleyed over from a Reid corner in the 2nd minute. Moments later a clearance from the 'Well defence smashed the top of the away dugout!! Time for Handy Andy methinks. Five minutes later, good play between Lasley and trialist Steven Craig resulted in the latter's shot hitting the post. Seconds later a dreadful tackle from behind by MacDonald on Freddie Arpinon went unpunished, much to the chagrin of the Hibs players and fans. 

Hibs had two or three speculative efforts from 20/25 yards but they were all easily saved or too week to bother Uncle Fester lookalike Stephen Woods. Hibs were huffing and puffing in midfield, occasionally playing some nice stuff, but the final ball was lacking and Motherwell grew in confidence from Hibs' frustration. Just after the half hour mark, Motherwell took the lead. A long ball down the middle should have been cleared by Shand but the attentions of trialist Craig resulted in the ball dropping to him. He proceeded to round Caig and slot the ball into the empty net. HIBS 1-0 MOTHERWELL

Twice in the game Tony Caig was almost caught out at his near post by shots from wide on the left. Each time he seemed rather slow to react to shots that were either weak or going wide, resulting in two rather unnecessary corners. 

Five minutes from half time, Hibs got a lifeline when Woods was deemed to have picked up a pass back from one of his defenders. Despite his vehement protests towards the officials, the referee, following consultation with his assistant, awarded a free kick to Hibs in the Motherwell box. Quinn was booked for his part in the protestations. Arpinon touched the ball to O'Connor and he blasted in through a poor 'Well wall. HIBS 1-1 MOTHERWELL

Shortly afterwards both Whittaker and O'Connor had shots well saved by the legs of Woods. 
O'Connor was replaced by Scott Brown at half-time and within the first minute of the second half Ryan Harding received a yellow card for persistent fouling as Steven Craig continued to give him a hard time. 

Just short of the hour mark Janus Matyus and Shaun Fagan were booked for their part in a scrap of Gervais/Bovey proportions. Boyle was lucky not to join him in the referee's book. This incident seemed to spice the game up a bit as the tackles began to fly in. In 68 minutes, Motherwell regained the lead. After a scramble in the box, an innocuous 20 yard shot from Fagan seemed to catch Caig unawares and the none too powerful shot ended up in the back of the net. HIBS 1-2 MOTHERWELL 

Hibs had chances to level with both Arpinon (mishit shot well saved by Woods) and Matyus (header straight at the keeper) going close for the home team. Fifteen minutes from time Motherwell wrapped up the points. Caig flapped at a Motherwell corner and his weak punch fell to Lasley, who returned the ball with venom into the bottom corner. HIBS 1-3 MOTHERWELL. Moments later, in an identical situation, Lasley's effort just missed the corner flag! 

Hibs seemed to be resorting to the long ball and struggled to find any rhythm to their game as Motherwell bossed the midfield. Frustration was creeping in as Arpinon was spoken to for a trip on Cowan. A couple of minutes before, he had a sly kick at MacDonald but, luckily for him, the referee missed it. Freddie was spending more and more time gesticulating to the Sacre Bleu skies. 

Reid missed a glorious chance to pull one back for Hibs as a mix up in the 'Well defence gave him a clear shot on goal. When it looked easier to score, he somehow contrived to hit the post and the chance was lost. Seconds later Motherwell defender Cowan pulled down Alan Dempsie in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. With a two step run up, Arpinon proceeded to place it at a nice height for Woods and the goalkeeper saved easily. Mon dieu! 

On a night made for football, Hibs flattered to deceive as a young and vibrant Motherwell side grew in confidence and took home their just rewards. 

Man of the Match: Not the greatest of performances by Hibs on a night they'll want to forget. For me the best player was Alan Reid who chased and harried but with little reward. However, overall I could have picked any of three Motherwell players with Lasley and trialist Craig just being pipped by SHAUN FAGAN as my Man of the Match. 

Hibernian (3-5-2): Caig, A.Dempsie, Matyus, Shand, Harding, Whittaker, Nicol (D.Thomson 51), Arpinon, O'Connor (S.Brown 46), Byle (Shields 61), Reid. 
Unused subs: A. Brown (GK), K.Thomson. 

Bookings: Harding (46 persistent fouling) Matyus (57 handbags). 

Motherwell (4-4-2): Woods, Cowan, Ramsey, Quinn, Dempsie, MacDonald, Lasley, Fagan, Trialist (Russell 69), Kemas (Jack 89), Clark. 
Unused subs: Murphy (GK), Black, Higgins. 

Booking: Quinn (38 dissent), Fagan (57 handbags), Ramsey (88 foul). 

Referee: Dressed in Black. 

Crowd: 443.

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