Unique Rangers v Hibs clip goes viral - but Nick Montgomery can laugh about it now

Triantis floored two of his team-mates with a free-kick during the match at Ibrox

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery sees the funny side to a clip of his team that has gone viral this week in the wake of last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat by Rangers.

Early on during the match at Ibrox, Hibs defensive midfielder Nectarios Triantis tried to take a quick free-kick with a long-range pass out to the left. However, his effort struck his captain Joe Newell square in the face, before bouncing back and hitting fellow team-mate Will Fish in the head. Both players were floored by the ball, with referee Nick Walsh stopping play for Newell to get treatment. Footage of the incident has been shared across the world, much to Montgomery’s amusement.

“Honestly, you have to laugh,” said the Hibs boss, whose team take on St Johnstone on Saturday. “We put that clip in the team video after the Rangers game. And I still think it’s impossible to do what he did! How he’s knocked two of his own players out, I don’t know. Thankfully nobody got hurt. But I think the funniest thing is that he still played the 70-metre diagonal ball on the half-volley while we had two players down! We had a real laugh about it. And I don’t think you’ll ever see that again in football. It was bizarre!

Hibs' Joe Newell is treated for a head knock after the ball hits him in the face from Nectarios Triantis' free-kick.

“It’s good that it’s gone viral, for whatever reason. Any publicity is good publicity. Hibs have gone worldwide for that incident. We want Hibs to go worldwide because of our goals and success in the future. But there are probably people in the world who had never heard of Hibs, who are now following Hibs because of that moment. He does strike a ball well, to be fair. And we do say that, if it’s on quickly, play quickly. But you just have to make sure we don’t have our own players standing in front. That was amazing, really, when you think about it it.”