Hibs 2 - 3 Maribor: Slovenians finish the job

Published on Friday 6 August 2010 11:37

Today marks the 135th anniversary of the founding of Hibs, but you can bet any hangovers being suffered in Leith have been caused more by the drowning of sorrows than celebrating the club's birthday.

In truth, all but the most die-hard of Easter Road fans would have been looking forward to this match anticipating a party, well aware the Edinburgh outfit's interest in the Europa League had effectively been brought to an end a week ago as NK Maribor swept to an emphatic 3-0 win in their own Stadion Ljudski.

The Slovenian side underlined their superiority with a second victory, the aggregate scoreline of 6-2 over the two legs merely highlighting just why it would be their name rather than Hibs' in the hat today for the draw for the play-off stage of the competition.

Two goals from summer signing Edwin de Graaf perhaps helped ease the pain ever so slightly, restoring a little of that pride which had been so badly battered and bruised in the first leg, but no way near enough to give John Hughes' side even the glimmer of hope that, against all odds, they might mount one of the most memorable fightbacks in the club's 55-year association with European football.

The name of Maribor may not carry the same cachet as some of the continent's luminaries with whom Hibs have tangled over the years but the evidence of the 180 minutes, even in the light of a much-improved performance from Hughes' players, was unquestionable. The Slovenians deserved their success.

Darko Milanic's team carried a clear advantage in this being their sixth competitive match of the season, an important factor at the start of a new campaign. But while Hibs would almost certainly have been closer to their opponents had they enjoyed as much cut-and-thrust football, there remains the nagging doubt that even then the Slovenians would still have edged home.

Hughes praised the effort and commitment of his players, insisting they had given him everything, but was forced to concede Maribor, regular contestants in Europe, carried just too much know-how, tactical awareness, pace and movement.

Faced with the need for goals, Hibs did begin the match at a greater tempo than had been evident thus far in their pre-season preparations, the use of a "multi ball" system designed to ensure as much game time as possible with each of the ball-boys around the pitch issued with a ball.

It was, of course, exactly the same position as Celtic had found themselves in 24 hours early as they attempted a Champions League comeback against Braga but, unfortunately for Hibs, their game followed the precise pattern of that experienced by Neil Lennon's players, namely the opposition scoring first.

Hughes had expressed his hope that by half-time it would be Hibs ahead with the bonus of a clean sheet, instead it was Maribor captain Marcos Tavares who got the opening goal, the Brazilian stealing in to thunder a stunning header from Dejan Mezga's corner. Tavares had got the killer third in Maribor and this strike left Hibs needing five on the night, the home crowd, which had been buoyed by Hibs' start, falling silent with some even heading for home at the interval.

Hughes said: "I felt the boys gave me everything in terms of a start, getting at them. It was a wee bit 'up and at them', mixing it up to see if they could handle it. We had one or two chances, Anthony Stokes and Edwin de Graaf, but it did not materialise."

What did disappoint Hughes was that Tavares's goal had come from a set-piece, almost identical to the goal lost to Carlisle United's Ian Harte last Sunday, leaving Hibs with some 70 minutes to play but knowing their European dream was already over.

Hughes said: "It was hard for the boys but the one thing I was proud about is that they gave me an almighty effort.

"They kept plugging away, kept digging in. There were a lot of tired legs but on the night it was far too much for us to do. I asked them to play with a pride and passion, a desire and I think we saw that."

Pride, passion and desire is all very well, but Maribor displayed superior technical skills, greater tactical awareness and an unerring ability to choose exactly the right pass at the right moment.

Hughes said: "You need to be cool, calm and collected to get on the ball, to tactically know what is happening and once again I thought Tavares caused us all sorts of problems. It was a hard-working performance, I thought Sol Bamba was different class for one who has not trained that much, Liam Miller was a Trojan and Colin Nish fought his corner but on the night it was not good enough.

"We were playing against a good side and what impressed me about them is that they suck you in and as soon as a pass goes astray they are right at you in numbers with good pace on the counter-attack."

For their part, Hibs lacked any genuine pace to hurt their opponents when in possession, while a glance at the bench threw just how small a squad Hughes has at present into sharp focus.

While the likes of Paul Hanlon, David Stephens, David Wotherspoon and Danny Galbraith undoubtedly possess potential, there is a most definite lack of experience much beyond the XI who started last night.

De Graaf's first goal for Hibs, a fortuitous effort as the Dutch

midfielder's head got in the way of Stokes' shot to deflect the ball past Marko Pridigar, did raise the crowd's spirits a little but they were soon dashed as Kevin McBride was adjudged to have bundled Mezga over, the game's outstanding player stepping up to wrong-foot Graeme Smith who had taken over in goal from Graham Stack, injured late on in the first leg.

Tavares claimed his second of the night and third of the tie as Dalibor Volas nodded Ales Mertelj's cross down for his skipper to crash into the roof of the net, Mertelj's signal that the game was now over rather superfluous as that much had been the case for quite some time previously as evidenced by the swathes of empty seats – and not just in the new East Stand which lay unused on the night – which had appeared.

De Graaf gave those who had stayed to the bitter end something more to cheer as he hammered home Nish's knockdown from David Wotherspoon's cross, the former NAC Breda captain's double perhaps the biggest plus on the night for Hibs, at last someone who looks able to supply a decent number of goals from the middle of the park.

Now Hibs have only Sunday's friendly at Blackpool between them and the start of the season, a visit to a Motherwell side which, thanks to an outstanding victory over Norwegian outfit Aalesunds last night, will be flying the flag in the Europa League that little bit longer.

And as disappointed as he was at the way his first foray into Europe as a manager had ended, Hughes insisted his players will be all the better for the experience as he looked forward to the next time.

He said: "I'd like to thank the supporters who really got behind us. If they can play their part again this coming season as they did last year then hopefully we can get that European spot again."

Hibs (4-4-2): Smith; Hart (Galbraith 69), Hogg, Bamba, Murray (Wotherspoon 69); De Graaf, McBride, Miller, Riordan; Stokes, Nish. Subs not used: Brown, Stephens, Thicot, Rankin.

NK Maribor (4-4-2): Pridigar; Mejac, Rajcevic, Andelkovic, Viler; Mezga (Cvijanovic 90+1), Mertelj, Bacinovic, Ilicic; Tavares, Volas (Plut 90+2). Subs not used: Radan, Pavlicic, Jelic, Dodlek, Majer.

Referee: Clement Turpin (France).

Attendance: 12,504.