Football: Late double does the trick for Hibs; SPL SPECIAL... Livingston 0 Hibernian 2.

HIBS left it late to kill off plucky Livingston at Almondvale last night.

John Collins' men had to wait until the 89th minute to break the deadlock through sub Dean Shiels and Merouane Zemmama then sealed the victory.

The Easter Road men began in lively fashion and both Clayton Donaldson and full-back Kevin McCann watched 20-yard strikes fly inches past.

Hibs kept dominating with Guillaume Beuzelin and Brian Kerr pulling the strings in midfield. The Frenchman set up Donaldson for another chance but the ex-York star's effort was weak.

Livi, managed by the former Hibs coach Mark Proctor, almost grabbed the lead with their first chance after 20 minutes but Paul Shiels shot over.

Beuzelin then shot wide from before Donaldson should have done better than fire straight at Livi's trialist keeper.

Abdessalam Benjelloun was out of luck twice before Rob Jones headed over.

Shiels eventually made it 1-0 with a low angled strike and Zemmama slammed home the rebound after a Ross Chisholm penalty had been blocked.

Two unnamed players have joined Hibs on trial but boss John Collins now looks unlikely to move for Republic of Ireland Under-21 striker Rory O'Donovan.

CAPTION(S):

CLOSE CALL: Hibs ace Benjelloun's shot just missed