Joelle Murray ‘disappointed but proud’ after Hibs Euro exit

Joelle Murray was “disappointed” after Hibs Women were knocked out of Europe but is “proud” of her side’s performance throughout our 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday night. 

Hibernian put up a strong defensive display, frustrating the Italians at Easter Road. However, with Hibs down to 10 on the pitch, Masa Tomasevic netted in injury time – which Murray described as a “sucker punch”.

“It was a performance to be proud of. I think when the girls are in the changing room after the game, disappointed and frustrated just after playing Inter Milan, I think that speaks volumes.” she told HibsTV.

“They knew they competed, and individually they were winning their battles. It’s a sucker punch at the end because I don’t think we deserved that. I think a draw was probably the fair result.”

Alongside being proud of the team herself, the former Hibernian Women captain told her players that they should be “proud of the way they played” at Easter Road. 

“I spoke with the girls during the week, and I just said, ‘Go and embrace the challenge; enjoy the occasion.’ I think you could see the way they played tonight, they certainly did that. I think they can certainly be proud of the way they played.

“I think the growth within the week, from last week to this week, was fantastic. Structurally, so much better, and I think that shows that the retention of knowledge and the self-reflection, individually and collectively, have been there, and they showed it on the pitch tonight.”

Murray also spoke on how Inter Milan midfielder and Swedish international Olivia Schough praised the Hibs players for their performance on Wednesday night, and detailed how the team need to take praise like that as a “platform for the remainder of the season”.

“We were delighted with a lot of passages we played tonight. We were popping it about, we were opening them up, and I was speaking to Olivia Schough at the end there, and she congratulated us on how we played.”

“She said we frustrated them, we outplayed them at times, and I think that’s testament. That’s a top-class player who’s given you that feedback, so the girls need to take heart from things like that and go away and use it as a platform for the rest of the season.”

The Hibernian Women coach has said this European campaign has given her players a “taste for European action” and has left the team craving more but understands they need to now “focus on domestic games” for European football to return.

“The last few weeks have given us a taste for it, and it’s shown we want to be here every single season, and I think tonight in particular we showed that we deserve to be here in level of performance,” Murray told HibsTV.

She added, “I think the focus is now on domestic games and getting back to winning, taking each game as it comes and really performing to give us a platform to get back to occasions like this. 

Looking ahead, Hibernian Women make the journey across the M8 as they face Celtic at New Douglas Park as they return to SWPL action, and Murray is “looking forward” to the game as the Hibees look to get three points.

“As always, I’m looking forward to it. Obviously it’s a quick turnaround, but the girls have been great at resting, recovering, and retaining in short periods of time, and certainly the next few days will be no different.

“So full focus is now on Celtic and how we can break them down, open them up and come away from that game with three points hopefully.”