Young Hibs in title repeat challenge reminder after League Cup Final penalty shoot-out heartbreak
Spot kicks a cruel ‘sucker punch’ for Darren McGregor’s reigning U18 champions
Darren McGregor has urged his Hibs kids to bounce back from a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out loss in last night’s Club Academy Scotland Under-19s League Cup final – by pushing their bid for back-to-back league titles right to the wire.
Hibs, who clinched the under-18s title last season, are still in with a shout of being crowned champions in the older age group with just one round of fixtures remaining. They need a win away to Celtic on Friday afternoon to give themselves a chance of pipping Rangers to the flag for the second consecutive season.
Speaking after a 5-4 penalty loss to St Mirren, with the sides locked together at 1-1 after 90 minutes in Airdrie, McGregor admitted: “It's very disappointing. They've done ever so well to get to this point. They’ve had a fantastic season and then to lose it in penalties was really … it's a sucker punch
“I'm very aware that they're young, they're still learning. There is a wee bit of naivety in this - but I'm hoping they learn from it.
“The message is we need to dust ourselves down and prepare for Friday. It's as quick as that.
“We can't dwell on it because ultimately we've got a great opportunity to win the league again, depending on what happens at other places. We need to dust ourselves down, suck it up, look at it and say: ‘Could we have done better?’
“I think the lads will admit that in parts of the game we could have done better. We could have been better in possession.
“We could have kept possession a bit better. Played in their half probably a wee bit more. That is disappointing but again, we're young. Sometimes it’s inexperience – and it's up to us to make them better.”
A Jamie McMurdo penalty just before half-time put McGregor’s lads into the lead. St Mirren struck back within minutes of the second half kicking off, Billy Hutchison rifling a right-footed shot into the roof of the net after the usual scrum at a corner kick.
Unable to be separated over 90 minutes, the sides went straight into the randomised test of nerve and skill from 12 yards. Lewis Gillie saw the opening penalty saved and, although St Mirren’s Luke Douglas put his effort over the bar when he might have won it with his team’s fifth attempt, Zach Bruce – up sixth – skied his effort to allow Hutchison to cap his evening with the winning penalty.
It was a brutal way to finish a decent contest. And a tough lesson for a young team who had put so much into the evening.
Hibs were forced to work hard just to stay alive against a fluid and athletic St Mirren team, who had an early goal ruled out for offside and hit the post midway through a frantic first half. But the young Hibees managed to show some flashes of threat themselves, most notably when Logan Jiminez hit the crossbar with a thumping header from the edge of the penalty box.
And they were given the chance to break the deadlock virtually bang on half-time, as Owen Calder skipped past St Mirren right back Callum Penman on the left wing, accelerated into the box from the byeline –and drew the foul that prompted referee Liam Coulter to award a penalty. McMurdo hit his spot kick with so much power that even a strong hand by goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius couldn’t keep the ball out.
The equaliser was no more than St Mirren deserved for their first-half efforts. And both teams put plenty into the remainder of the second half, with Lewis Gillie firing a header just over – and Hibs goalie Mallon making a stunning triple save as the Buddies pushed for a winner.
In the shoot-out, Hibs were up against it from the moment Gillie’s opening effort was saved. And, despite the late reprieve, they couldn’t get over the line.