Hibs youngsters were defeated in the CAS Elite U19 League Cup Final after a dramatic penalty shootout defeat by St Mirren at Albert Bartlett Stadium last night.
Jamie McMurdo and Billy Hutchison each scored in an enthralling 90 minutes in Airdrie, and after neither side could force a winner, the showpiece went to penalties, where Hibs lost 5-4 on spot-kicks.
Lewis Gillie’s penalty was saved by Grant Tamosevicius, then Jack Lavery, Josh McDonald, Carrick McEvoy, Lewis McNeill, Innes Clark, McMurdo, Struan Thomson, and Logan Jiménez all struck perfect spot-kicks.
Luke Douglas’ spot kick hit the crossbar, before Zach Bruce skied his attempt over Tamosevicius’ bar.
Hutchison stepped up to take the decisive spot-kick, and he sent our No1 the wrong way from 12 yards to win it for St Mirren.
After the final whistle Hibs head coach Dearrn McGregor told hibs TV: “Obviously the lads are very disappointed.
“I thought over the course of the 90 minutes we acquitted ourselves well.
“They probably had the better chances if we’re being honest over the course, but I think you get to penalties and then as you say you’re just hoping for that wee bit of luck as well and we’re unfortunate that Gillie steps up and the keeper goes the right way.
“But I have to commend all the lads that took penalties because as a player I was always hiding at the back of the queue if I’m being honest.
“They’re still young, they’re still inexperienced, they’re still learning so we’re hoping that the whole experience playing at a stadium in front of their friends and family, that will stand them in good stead and we can learn, we can grow from it and we can move on.”
Skipper Joseph McGrath was replaced by Jaden Riddell before the break, with the centre-back limping off with a hamstring problem.
McGregor continued: “Joe’s been a stalwart all season, he’s played for ourselves, he’s played in the Challenge Cup games, the [UEFA Youth League] Champions Pathway games, and he’s done really well at Stranraer, so it’s unfortunate to lose him,
“You’re then asking his team-mates: ‘Can you fill in? Can you acquit yourself well?’ And I thought Jaden done that, I thought he came on and he gives us good balance on that side, he was aggressive in the challenges, good with the ball at his feet so that was a definite benefit.”
With the final day of the CAS Elite U19 League approaching the youngsters will be forced to bounced back quickly as Hibs visit Barrowfield on Friday afternoon to face Celtic.
Rangers have the upper hand heading into the final matchday due to a superior goal difference – with Hibs knowing they must better the Light Blues’ result to retain their league champions status.
“We need to [pick ourselves up], that’s what I say to the players, this is a very difficult situation to be in, losing in the manner in which we did and it’s a bitter pill to swallow because the lads would have loved to have won the Cup.
“I know it’s development, and development is the most important thing, but I think everybody likes to win and the lads wanted to get across the line.
“But yes, you just need to move on relatively quickly, obviously we’ve got a big task ahead of us, we know that obviously beating Celtic might afford us that opportunity of winning the league again so back-to-back league titles would be phenomenal.
“It’s how we recover and how we start the game against Celtic. It’ll be a tough game, they’re obviously a very good team but we need to dust ourselves down and prep for that.”
McMurdo told Hibs TV: “We’re gutted not to get the win as we worked hard to get to this stage.
“We had five wins in the group stage and won 4-1 in the semi-final as well, so it’s just tough to get beaten at the final hurdle.
“It’s probably the toughest way to get beat in a Cup final, but it’s a learning curve, and everyone can take a bit of experience from it and use it in the future.
“We had a couple of good chances, and maybe on another day we could have been a bit more clinical, but so could they, so it could have went either way in the end.
“We hit the bar with Logan [Jiménez’s] header, so it’s just disappointing not to get over the line.
“It’s a big moment (his first-half goal). You just need to try and stay composed under pressure, pick your spot and put it there.
“We can still win a trophy. We can still end the season on a high, so we just need to keep our heads up and give 100 per cent on Friday.”
Hibs U19s XI: Mallon (GK), McSporran, McNeill, McGrath © (Riddell 42′), Gillie, Calder, Bruce, McDonald, McMurdo, Jiménez, Cleland (Downie 78′).
Unused Subs: Brown (GK), Burns, Thomson.
St Mirren U19s XI: Tamosevicius (GK), Penman (Stoddart 70′), Falconer, Hutchison, Clark, Hunter, Farquhar (Douglas 65′), McEvoy ©, McCormick, Hodgkiss, Lavery.
Unused Subs: Innes (GK), Thompson, Kiely, McMillan, Freel.
