Hibs climbed to the top of the CAS Elite U19 League table with a 2-1 victory over St Mirren at the club’s training centre.
Hibe went behind with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining to a close-range Lewis Hodgkiss finish.
But Jamie McMurdo equalised in the 89th minute with a composed finish before Josh McDonald, grabbed the winner deep into stoppage time.
Speaking to Hibs TV after the match, McDonald revealed the team were told to “relax” at half-time and that cooler heads would prevail come full-time.
“It was absolutely unbelievable, especially after we were 1-0 down with not long to go.
“It was just great resilience from every single person to get a goal back and then score at the last minute again, it was fantastic.
“The message was pretty much ‘just relax, keep it the same’ [at half-time]. I thought we had the better chances in the first half.
“So it was just talking about keeping the composure in front of goal and obviously with the build-up and how to stop them playing out.
In recent weeks, McDonald has trained with David Gray’s First Team at HTC after continually impressing in McGregor’s U19s squad.
“(The last few months) have been very good. Obviously, before that it was a bit tough coming back from a hamstring injury – I was out for about six weeks with that.
“I feel like ever since I’ve came back, I’ve just been very hungry to keep improving. And then obviously getting to train with the First Team is excellent as well.”
Head of Academy Coaching Guillaume Beuzelin added: “When you score at the end like this to win the three points, there’s nothing better.
“And I think that’s the best learning curve for our boys when the game is on the edge. When we are one-nil down, they showed resilience so credit to the boys.”
Touching on the two scorers, Beuzelin lavished praise on McMurdo and McDonald for their performances – both against St Mirren and in recent weeks, respectively.
“Jamie’s playing a bit higher recently, he’s been very effective. He’s doing well, even without the ball, they press very well.
“There was a lot of good energy from them, so I’m delighted they managed to win with the two goals.
“Sometimes there’s a rush of blood. [Josh] showed great composure, to be fair, that’s quite a bit of strength of his. It’s not the first time he’s done that, so I’m delighted with this.”
The CAS Elite U19 League Cup Final will see the two sides meet once more for the fifth and final time this season, and Beuzelin is now looking forward to that final match-up with a trophy on the line.
“I think they are up there in terms of the teams we have to play against.
“They are very well coached and they have a bit between their teeth as well.
“And at the end of the game, it was a bit of a ding-dong with the players, so there’s going to be some set-up for the final.”
Hibernian XI: Mallon, McSporran (McNeill 84′), Gillie, McGrath, Buckley, Bruce, Cleland (Jimenez 65′), Burns, McMurdo, McDonald, Riddell.
Substitutes: Brown, Jimenez, McNeill, Aghanya.
