NK Maribor 3 - 0 Hibernian: Slick Slovenians expose Edinburgh side's inexperience in Europe

HIBERNIAN'S lack of European experience was cruelly exposed as Slovenian outfit NK Maribor, a club immersed in playing at this level on an annual basis, all but ended the Edinburgh club's hopes of making any further progress in the Europa League, running John Hughes' men ragged and well worth their margin of victory.

Lucky to be trailing by just one goal at half time, Josip Ilicic's 31st-minute strike scant reward for the Slovenians' superiority, Hibs found themselves three down by the hour mark, the irrepressible Ilicic claiming a second before laying in his captain Marcos Tavares for a third goal which all but put this third qualifying round beyond the Scottish side.

Temperatures which had soared towards 35C in the days leading up to this match dipped to a more comfortable 19C just prior to kick-off with "sprinkles," in the local parlance, of rain would have been initially welcomed by John Hughes players as they stepped onto the pitch although it turned into a downpour which lasted throughout the game. Already without Sol Bamba, the Ivory Coast star left behind after failing to reappear on time after World Cup duty in South Africa, the Hibs manager surprised the 300 or so fans who had made the difficult journey from Edinburgh, the lack of direct flights to Slovenia's second largest city testing their ingenuity as they arrived by road and rail from staging posts as diverse as Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Graz and Zagreb, by omitting both Derek Riordan and Anthony Stokes from his starting line-up.

Instead, he opted to field alone striker in Colin Nish, scorer of the five goals in the closing two SPL matches of last season which finally clinched the Easter Road club's place in the competition, a clear sign of his intention to attempt to put a strangehold on the middle of the park.

However, Hughes' stated aim of at least ensuring the tie remained alive for the second leg at Easter Road next Thursday were almost undone within the opening six minutes as the Slovenian side settled to their task with aplomb, Paul Hanlon forced into a timely tackle on Tavares after John Rankin's slack pass had been picked off in the middle of the park.

Then Ilicic caught Ian Murray napping with a glorious 50 yards pass which dropped over the defender's head and into the path of Dejan Mezga who had time to steady himself but, instead, blazed widely over before Tavares' low ball across the ace of goal just eluded the outstretched boot of the unmarked Dalibor Volas at the back post.

It had been clear from those early exchanges that Hibs were in for a long and difficult evening, goalkeeper Graham Stack clawing Volas' effort to safety before spilling a low cross from Ilicic which he managed to grab at the second attempt.

Hibs were rarely seen as an attacking force as they struggled to cope with the pace and movement of their opponents who appeared in little need of the assistance they were handed midway through the first half when Michael Hart's wayward throw-in saw Tavares feed Ilicic, the midfielder unleashing a powerful which Stack did superbly well to push over his crossbar.

The outstanding Ilicic, given the freedom to roam by coach Darko Milanic, found himself in a similar position eight minutes later, stepping inside Murray who was unlucky to slip at the vital moment giving his opponent the time to deliver a curling left foot shot which left Stack for dead as it sailed over the goalkeeper's head and crashed down off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.

It was no more than Malbor deserved, but having endured 45 minutes of torment, Hibs almost snatched an unlikely equaliser on the stroke of half-time, Lee Miller taking David Wotherspoon's pass 25 yards out and firing in a powerful shot which saw Maribor goalkeeper Marko Pridigar rise majestically to his left to push away.

Nevertheless, Hughes and his players would have been more than happy to hear referee Martin Ingvarsson's whistle, signalling a welcome 15 minutes respite from the onslaught, a opportunity to catch their breath and reassess just how they might exert even slightly more influence on proceedings if they were to prevent the tie running away from them altogether. Whatever was said in the away dressingroom had little effect as Maribor doubled their lead six minutes after the restart as Ilicic added his second of the match. He may have been aided and abetted by a slack pass from David Wotherspoon but there was no doubting the quality of the finish, Ilicic floating a fantastic ball over the head of the stranded Stack from 25 yards.

The home side and their vociferous fans sensed blood, well aware one more goal would all but secure their place in the competition's play-off stage and Tavares almost got it six minutes later, Stack getting down to place a strong left hand on his low shot.

A third goal, however, was inevitable and once again it came courtesy of a Hibs mistake, Kevin McBride allowing Ilicic to pick his pocket before slipping the ball to his right for Tavares to apply the finish as he curled the ball around the helpless Stack.

Hughes decided to throw on both Riordan and Stokes in a desperate bid to claim that away goal which might have put a slightly different complexion on the outcome, but to no avail, leaving Hibs with the bleak prospect of overcoming a three-goal deficit in six days, a highly unlikely scenario on the evidence of these 90 minutes.

Maribor: Pridigar, Mejac, Rajcevic, Andelkovic, Viler, Mertelj, Bacinovic, Mezga (Cvijanovic 71), Ilicic (Pavlicic 79), Tavares, Volas (Plut 91). Subs not used: Radan, Dzinic, Jelic, Majer.

Hibernian: Stack, Hart, Hogg, Hanlon, Murray, McBride (Riordan 68), De Graaf, Miller, Rankin, Wotherspoon (Galbraith 77), Nish (Stokes 68). Subs not used: Smith, Stephens, Thicot, Stevenson. ..