Hampden defeat ranks low on hierarchy of hurt for Hibs

HIBERNIAN'S players may have appeared less distraught than might have been expected in the aftermath of what was a pretty abject afternoon but perhaps there is a hierarchy of hurt when it comes to cup final defeats.

The Easter Road side lost, and lost comprehensively, yesterday but the pain was nowhere near as severe as that felt last May.

It will take much more than a year for Paul Hanlon, a Hibs fan, to forget the feeling of losing 5-1 to Hearts so it was with that suffering still relatively fresh in his memory that he heralded a "decent performance" from his side and spoke of positives that could be taken from this defeat. Given that the centre-back was at least partly culpable for both of Gary Hooper's goals, it was a fanciful claim.

"It's disappointing but it's different from last season," Hanlon said. "We put them under pressure, especially in the first half, and there was no time we folded. We kept working hard for each other and that's something we can take out if it."

If that is something to cherish, it perhaps speaks to a lack of ambition among the Easter Road ranks. Granted, Pat Fenlon's side started at a brisk pace but Eoin Doyle's failure to convert a free header after six minutes was one of the few times they truly troubled Celtic. "If we had put that away it would have been a totally different game," said goalkeeper Ben Williams. "We would have had something to hold on to. But when you go behind it is always going to be a big ask from then on."

Certainly, Hibs became cowed after Hooper's first goal and lost the verve and determination that characterised their early efforts. "I wouldn't say it knocked the stuffing out of us," protested defender Ryan McGivern. "Even after the second goal we kept trying to get the ball down and gave a decent account of ourselves. We could have let the heads drop and collapsed so it became five or six, so credit to the lads because we kept at it. I don't think we were disgraced or embarrassed."

If some comfort can be drawn from that, questions should be asked about the defending that effectively ended Hibs' hopes within the opening half hour or so. Twice Anthony Stokes' crosses were not dealt with, and twice Hooper rippled the rigging. Should the Easter Road side have done better? "When you look at the amount of defenders against forwards in the box . . . it was one guy on his own and we've not dealt with that as a unit," conceded Williams.

"We have to take credit for the fact we limited them to only a few chances, though. We showed commitment to the cause. We could have capitulated and with the quality they have got it could have been large numbers because they were clinical in front of goal. But as a unit throughout the whole 90 minutes we kept them to two or three chances so I think we did reasonably well."

Taken from the Herald