'If there was ever a team that didn’t want penalties it was us': How Hibs broke a penalty curse to lift the Capital Cup

Hibs manager Dean Gibson “always knew” equaliser was going to come before his side finally broke their penalty curse to lift the Capital Cup.

Hibs created a host of chances in front of a record crowd at Easter Road before Crystal Thomas’s late equaliser. With the game ending 1-1 and the points shared in the SWPL, the hosts went on to win the first edition of the cup 5-3 on penalties in front of a bouncing stadium.

A penalty curse that was looming over Gibson’s side seems to finally have been broken with Hibs converting all five penalties from the spot in the shootout. It ends a succession of misses from the spot with the side unable to convert five of their last six. However, luck finally seemed to be on their side as they came away victorious.

“If there was ever a team that didn’t want to go to penalties it was us”, Gibson told the Edinburgh Evening News. “We have had six penalties this season, five different takers and missed five. We probably didn’t fancy penalties to be honest. It got to the stage where I just said to the players because some players can be nervous and not want to take them but I just looked at who I thought were the best five strikers of the ball and said look you are taking the first five. You’ve just got to get on with them, it on me if you miss them.”

Dean Gibson wants Hibs to start taking more of their chances. Picture: Paul Devlin / SNS

Gibson always thought the equaliser would come as they piled on the pressure late in the game but challenged his team to be more clinical in the future to prevent the circumstances from reoccurring.

“It was all about the Capital Cup as much as it was a league game”, Gibson tadded. “We obviously know what’s at stake, three points, climbing the table. What I will say is that our performance was consistent, we have been consistent all season. We unfairly went behind. We could have scored two or three in the first half and probably could have got a couple in the second half.

“When we did go behind it was a bit like ‘here we go again’. When you look back at the 1v1, Freda’s header and another couple... But that has been our story, we are not clinical enough. We don’t get the reward for the work that we do and we have a softness when defending set plays – we have improved it but we still have a little bit of work to go on that part. It came out as one chance, goal, and we are behind.

“Did I think the goal was going to come? I did because I knew the girls would keep going. We have only lost one game since we lost to Glasgow City and that was a 1-0 defeat to Rangers. I know when we go behind, we have got that little bit of resilience to keep going and the good thing is the girls know that they are playing well. If we do go behind, they know it’s not through performance, it’s just maybe through the luck not being on our side.”