Hibs youngsters picked up a crucial three points by securing a memorable comeback win against Hearts at the club’s Training Centre yesterday.
Logan Jimenez headed Hibs in front inside 60 seconds to make the perfect start – though two Hearts goals from Euan Banks and Jaedon Donkor turned the game on its head by half-time.
Tommy North addeda third on 50 minutes to seemingly put Hearts on the path to back-to-back derby victories.
Josh McDonald’s second assist teed up Reiss Downie before he grabbed a goal of his own to put Hibs back on level terms by the 65-minute mark.
After putting heavy pressure on the visitors’ backline Lewis Gillie scored the winner after 87 minutes to put Hibs into first-place in the CAS Elite U19 League for the time being.
Hibs U19s Head Coach Darren McGregor has said his side showed “excellent courage and a great attitude.
Speaking to Hibs TV after the match, he praised his players for turning the game back on its head after an ‘anxious’ spell nearly proved costly.
“That seems to be the theme the past few weeks, that we’re leaving it late to win games of football, but again it shows the character of the lads to come back and face adversity. It’s an excellent result.
“Could we have started the game better? I don’t think we could have, Logan obviously puts us ahead after a minute, so it’s an excellent start.
“Then we just got a bit anxious, a little bit nervous in default, into the bad habits that were maybe present in the game before that.
“That was a disappointing thing, but again we showed excellent courage and a great attitude to come back and win it in the manner in which we did.”
Hibernian XI: Mallon, McSporran, Gillie, McGrath, McNeill, Burns (Aghanya 59′), Cleland, Calder, Jimenez, McDonald, Riddell (Downie 46′).
Substitutes: Brown, McDermott, Downie, Thomson, Aghanya.
