Hibs’ Head Coach Alan Stubbs is convinced that the club’s Scottish Cup hoodoo will eventually come to an end and with a game against fellow Championship side Falkirk in the semi-finals the fans are convinced that this could be the year.
Speaking after yesterday’s comfortable win over Berwick Rangers, a content Stubbs said: “Someone’s going to do it, whether it’s me, the next manager or the one after that but while we’re still in the competition you can keep bringing it up… but you never know, it might be me.
“Even though we weren’t on our A game I thought we were very professional. The goals in the first half settled us down and as long as we didn’t do anything silly or lose concentration, we always looked like we would score and add to our tally. Berwick deserve a lot of credit; they can hold their heads high. Coming here was always going to be a big ask for them.
“There is the romance of the cup and while they were still in it there was an opportunity to cause a shock, but we were determined that wasn’t going to be us today.
Stubbs won the cup as a Celtic player under Martin O’Neil was delighted with some of Hibs’ play and particularly the form of unsung hero Lewis Stevenson who helped create two goals and scored another.
He continued: “There was a quality about the first two goals, a real understanding of interchanging and quick one-touch play. Maybe the last person you’d have thought would have been on the end of the second one would have been Lewis Stevenson but that’s what he’s added to his game. He has a belief and is playing more in the middle to final third and chipping in with a few goals.
“He’s very much Mr Shy-Guy and you can see that from his celebrations as he doesn’t really know what to do with them. But you saw in the players’ reactions to the goal that he’s a very popular guy in the dressing-room.
“By reaching the semis the players have given themselves an opportunity and I honestly feel it’s one they’ll grab hold of,”
The Falkirk tie is a repeat of the famous 2013 semi-final which Hibs won after extra time after going in at half time 3-0 down. The game will be played on either Saturday 18th April or Sunday 19th April.
The other semi-final will be between either Celtic or Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Raith Rovers.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
