Hibs Europa Conference League reaction - David Gray on goalie blunders + Bowie's stunner on 'special night'
Hibs boss reacts to his side’s progression on a nerve-shredding night at Easter Road
Delighted David Gray joked he needs a lie down after his Hibs side were given an almighty Europa Conference League scare against 10-man Partizan Belgrade.
Chris Cadden’s extra-time strike clinched a 4-3 aggregate win for the capital club and secured a play-off tie with Polish side Legia Warsaw, who drop down from the Europa League after losing to AEK Larnaca.
The Hibees held a two-goal first leg advantage following their heroics in the Serbian capital last week, but Partizan levelled the tie inside the opening 45 minutes at Easter Road after two major goalkeeping errors from Jordan Smith.
Firstly, he failed to keep out Milan Vukotic’s long-range effort before allowing Jovan Milosevic’s tame strike to squirm between his legs on a nerve-shredding night in Leith.
The hosts put themselves back in pole position courtesy of a moment of sheer brilliance from striker Kieron Bowie. The Scotland international displayed excellent awareness to allow the ball to drop over his left shoulder before rifling a 35-yard effort over visiting goalkeeper Marko Milosevic via the post.
Partizan were then reduced to ten men when Nikola Simic was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Bowie, but despite their numerical disadvantage, the Serbian’s managed to force extra-time when substitute Andrej Kostic drilled home in the 96th minute.
A leg-weary Hibs rallied and struck the deadly blow shortly after when Cadden swept past Milosevic after Josh Mulligan’s shot was parried into the wing-back’s path.
“I enjoyed the goals tonight actually,” a relieved Gray admitted. “I think it’s just because of the emotion, how the game went, everything about it. Trying to analyse it will be difficult, but ultimately it’s a brilliant result and performance to come through that tie over two legs.
“One thing I said to the players, I massively played down the away leg and the magnitude of that result to go over there and win 2-0 in an atmosphere and environment like that where they probably haven’t been before.
“We played it down knowing it was only halfway in the tie, but I’m delighted for the players and I think we fully deserve to be in the next round. All in all, a fantastic night’s work.”
Gray lauds Kieron Bowie’s ‘massive moment’
On Bowie’s spectacular goal, Gray stated with a wry smile: “It's a good clearance. No, as I say, take his goal out of it, he was exceptional tonight. Everything he did from the first second onwards, he was a real handful.
“Everything we've spoken about Kieron before was there again to see. His goal was a special goal for a special night. I spoke about if you win the game tonight, it would be a special night. It doesn't matter how you get through, it would be a special occasion.
“It was great a goal, probably unfortunate that didn’t actually win us the game there and then. So I'm delighted for him on a personal level because of what he's been through.
“He's had a lot of praise recently and deservedly so, but he's been through a lot as well. Two really long-term injuries, it's a real test of character to keep going into the gym every day, keep working hard. Join a new club, then get a setback again, then need an operation on it, to then pull himself through that.
“And then to do what he's doing now, I think he fully deserves it for everything he's done up until this point. As I keep saying, there's a lot more to come for Kieran Bowie, which is a real positive for everybody.
“It was a massive moment in the game, but as I've said, you take the goal out of it, what he's given us at the minute... his appetite, his hunger, he's a bit of a throwback in how he play’s as a centre-forward, which is something that's difficult to play against.
“But even the quality he's got as well when he's in these positions. And I don't really like singling players out, I think he was always going to get a lot of the plaudits for tonight. But there was a lot of huge performances tonight, the effort level from every single player was there. I'm delighted for them all, because they deserve it.”
Gray hails character of goalkeeper after two blunders
Jordan Smith didn’t cover himself in glory with two massive first-half blunders to set pulses racing as Partizan drew level in the tie.
“No, I never considered taking him off” Gray confessed when asked if he had to have a conversation with Smith at the break. “It's easy to say that now, clearly, but I know his character. I know him as a person.
“I spoke to him. He knew. He held his hand up straight away. He knows that.”
Quizzed further on how challenging it can be for a goalkeeper to bounce back from two high-profile errors in quick succession, Gray added: “I think it's something that he's demonstrated for a long time, in a Hibs jersey especially. He's been so consistent, so reliable during difficult times.
“You think about when he made his debut for the club, he was in a difficult time when that position was under real scrutiny, and then made a mistake that night, or arguably could have done better for the goals.
“But he's done what he does, he is a calming influence, his character is really strong. I spoke to him at half-time, and I think when you make a mistake, you look at the second goal, he'll get it because he makes the final mistake, but there's three or four mistakes that lead up to that.
“As a goalkeeper, you've got no hiding place. If you make a mistake, you get punished, and that's what happens. That's why it's quite a lonely position to be in, and it takes a strong character to be able to do that.
“As I've said, I had no doubts about Smudge in the second half. What he does do then is, he doesn't take any risks. He didn't overplay, he didn't put himself in positions again. He simplified his game and made some big saves. That's all you can ask of your goalkeeper in those moments.
“I'm delighted for him because if we’d went out off the back of a couple of mistakes, he certainly doesn't deserve it for his level of performance and contribution over the last nine months he's been on the team.
“As I said, I think half-time came at a really good time because we did get a bit stretched at that moment. There was a clear momentum shift, which we've experienced. That's what happens in sport.
“I was able to settle everybody down, simplify everybody's game, and just basically answer the question. This is a test of character now. This is the biggest test you're going to face. You've demonstrated you can do it. You've demonstrated we're good enough. It's over to you to go and do it, and we certainly delivered that.”
Proud Partizan boss hails ‘amazing’ Easter Road atmosphere
Despite the crushing nature of the aggregate defeat, Partizan boss Srđan Blagojević expressed pride at his young squad and hailed the electric Easter Road atmosphere.
“It was an amazing night and a big experience for our younger players,” he admitted. “There is a bright future ahead of them and it wouldn’t have been undeserved if we were the team to qualify further.
“It was a very good game, an interesting match but we didn’t qualify even though we won tonight. We were the better team and closer to scoring the third goal than Hibs were to score their first.
“The atmosphere was amazing. Our European journey has been one big, beautiful experience. We’re a very young squad and I’m super proud of my whole team.”