HE was the one man they feared would give them a ton of trouble.
And little Martin Boyle proved Partizan right as his 100th Hibs goal set up a famous win.
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The jet-heeled striker pounced five minutes from the break to silence a frenzied home crowd and sent a 350-strong travelling support into dreamland.
Then he slotted a second half penalty after Maltese ref Philip Ferrugia was called to the VAR screen with play raging up the other end.
No one in this crumbling concrete bowl seemed to have a clue what it was for – and David Gray, his players and the fans who’d moved heaven and earth to be here didn’t give a damn.
All they knew as Boyle smashed his kick straight down the middle for goal 101 was that they had one foot in the Conference League play-offs.
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On a night when the Belgrade air was muggy and the atmosphere around the stadium white-hot, Gray’s men had done everything he’d asked them to.
Quieten some of the most infamous fans in Europe?
Tick.
Get themselves in the lead?
Tick.
Stand up to the onslaught that followed?
Tick.
That second goal was a massive bonus, the breathing space they hadn’t given themselves after taking the lead away to Midjtylland a couple of week before.
Now, in front of a sold out Easter Road next Thursday night, they have the chance to manage this tie on their own terms against a Serbian outfit whose coach Srdjan Blagojevic really HADN’T been playing mind games when he described them as inexperienced and as second-favourites.
It only took four minutes to see that his players didn’t have the chops to match the power a support known as The Gravediggers have to intimidate visitors.
A simple long ball out of the Hibs box saw their defence flap, forced keeper Marko Milosevic to barrell out of box and made an unconvincing headed clearance – and there was Boyle to collect and float one back over his head and dipped agonisingly into the sidenetting.
Partizan were after Boyle, no question. No sooner had he needed treatment for an off-the-ball dig in the ribs than he was being halfed in two by centre-back Vukasin Durdevic, a challenge that turned out to be as fateful as it was rash thanks to a remarkable 30 seconds of drama.
Eleven minutes from the break, a low ball in from the right found Milan Vukotic in space eight yards out – but with Smith helpless, Rocky Bushiri hurled himself to somehow block as the ball flashed towards the net.
As the defender lay clutching his shoulder, the ball was smashed upfield, Kieron Bowie rolled Durdevic, was hauled to the deck and across sprinted the ref to flash a second yellow followed by a red.
Six minutes after that, a man up became a golden goal up for Hibs.
They won a corner down the right, Jordan Obita fired it near post for Warren O’Hora to leap and flick on and there was Boyle with a clinical far-post finish.
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Suddenly, all you could hear was the faint roars of those Hibees stuck away up the other end from where the ball was nestling in the net.
As Boyle was chased towards the far corner flag by his delirious mates, all sorts rained down on the heads of yellow-jacketed stewards lining the running track around the pitch.
Then the noise swelled again, now not as chirpy and raucous as it had been since 90 minutes before kick-off, but deeper-throated and angrier.
This was what manager Gray had warned his players about, the role these Gravediggers play in intimidating visitors. This was the biggest test many of them had ever faced in their career.
They passed it with flying colours.
As their bus had pulled in, they’d seen black-clad gangs of those Gravediggers mingling with scores of cops in visored crash helmets, carrying shields and protected with reinforced shinpads and shoulder-guards.
But Partizan’s players rarely came close to matching that ferocity and they could – maybe should – have gone in two or even three down as first Bowie and then McGrath missed with free headers.
Just into the second half, Milosevic flew to tip over when Dylan Levitt met Obita’s cross with his instep and arrowed one for the roof of the net.
Then, the moment that REALLT took the sting out of it all.
One moment, Jack Iredale was racing and sliding to cut out a Partizan breakaway, the next ref Ferrugia was holding up play before jogging to the touchline and then making the sign.
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Penalty. Two-nil.
What a way to celebrate their 150th birthday.
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