Hithle Thistle 3 - 1 Hedbury Town

Key Events:

• 18' Yellow card to Hedbury Town Petko Nikić
• 21' Hithle Thistle Christian Espinosa scores
• 29' Yellow card to Hedbury Town Saliou Sow
• 45' Yellow card to Hithle Thistle Stefan Hasan
• 67' Hithle Thistle Joseph Sanchez scores, assisted by Stefan Hasan
• 69' Hedbury Town Idriz Kovač scores, assisted by Luis Ojeda
• 85' Yellow card to Hithle Thistle an unnamed player
• 90' Hithle Thistle Manuel Correa scores

Expected Goals (xG) Analysis: Hithle Thistle’s 3.18 xG against three goals is close to an exact return on the chances they created. Hedbury Town scored once from 1.23 xG, finishing slightly below the estimate, while their six shots and four on target gave them less attacking volume to work with. The visitors held 55% possession and won eight corners, but those measures did not become a comparable stream of high-quality opportunities. Hithle had only 45% of the ball yet managed 15 shots, 11 on target and enough threat to make their greater xG feel earned rather than accidental. Possession, as ever, kept its own records; the goals kept the useful ones.

No standout performers rated 7.0 or higher were recorded for either side.

Hedbury’s response after Joseph Sanchez made it 2-0 was prompt: Idriz Kovač scored two minutes later, with Luis Ojeda providing the assist, and briefly gave the visitors a route back into the contest. But the reply did not alter the underlying balance of chances. Hithle kept creating shots, and the late goal from Manuel Correa settled the score at 3-1. It was a convincing result built less on controlling the ball than on making better use of the time spent with it.