What Hibs fans learned from Euro throwback friendly as key injuries addressed on night of goals and drama.
With only 15 days until the season begins in earnest with a Europa League qualifier of actual relevance, Hibs welcomed their return to Easter Road with an exciting friendly victory over opponents from the club’s proud European heritage.
David Gray’s players narrowly held on for a 3-2 win against Rot-Weiss Essen in a game that featured plenty of chances, a couple of injury scares, a spectacular penalty save, and one or two reminders of the unavoidable inconsistency of performances at this point of training.
Junior Hoilett’s superb finish followed Jamie McGrath’s early opening after only 73 seconds, making it two-nil after 13 minutes, Hibs were pegged back by two quickfire goals from Essen substitute Dominik Martinovic in the opening exchanges of the second half.
With subs aplenty in the second half, including Martin Boyle coming on for Kieron Bowie just after the Scotland striker had hit the post on the hour mark, it was hard for either team to find much of a rhythm over the closing half hour.
Boyle banging in a third with his left foot will NOT count towards his competitive total for Hibs. So the wait for a century of goals goes on. What wouldn’t everyone at the club give for the skipper hitting the net in Herning in just over a fortnight’s time, eh?
There was time for late drama as goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger, at fault for the visitors’ second goal, pulled off a brilliant penalty save from Torben Musel with just three minutes remaining. And even some handbags in injury time as tempers flared in this ‘friendy.’
There was a risk of reading too much into a game that saw all of the summer arrivals make their debuts, a clash that allowed David Grey opportunities to attempt different formations – a 3-5-2 giving way to a 4-4-2 after an hour – and fresh combinations. The primary rationale for playing a team from the 3.
Bundesliga was that Hibs faced Essen in their first European Cup match in 1955. So, what did we learn from this Euro flashback at the start of Hibs’ 150th anniversary year? Let’s dive in.
Lewis Miller and Elie Youan injury updates
Miller exited the pitch with a knock just after the half-hour mark, while Youan lasted only 17 minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute, the French attacker applauding fans as he hirpled his way around the ground.
Grey shared an update on both. “It’s very early but both we’re hoping were more precautionary,” he told me.
“Millsy was a kick, he’s up walking about so we’ll have to asses him but we weren’t taking any risks.” Elie had a tightness in his back that was causing him problems while jogging, and you could see it, so we didn’t want to risk making things worse. So maybe, things will settle down fast.
Junior Hoilett is a stone-cold killer of defences
The sheer boldness. Hoilett’s second goal for Hibernian highlighted the importance of retaining the Canadian international for another season. After giving him time to speak with his family and consider alternative offers, the Hibs leadership was always eager to re-sign a player who had made a significant impression last season.
He looked crisp as ever while playing up front until being substituted by Youan at halftime. Aside from his goal, McGrath made some beautiful plays before fading in the second half. A few appeared lanky, despite the fact that they were still putting in rigorous training hours in preparation for the upcoming season.It all went a bit mad for a spell there …
Rot-Weiss Essen deserves credit for regaining control of the game with two quick goals early in the second half.
But Hibs cannot be pleased with how they conceded. The first was a tap-in, which is never good news for the defending. And the second?
Raphael Sallinger, the custodian, did not seem remarkable when he was beaten at his near post from range by a low shot that was hardly a screamer.
Read more on sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply