PARTIZAN BELGRADE supporters congratulated Hibs on their 150th birthday during their 2-0 Conference League defeat on Thursday night.
But a few of their ultras weren’t anything like so accommodating as they broke through a cordon to steal a Hibs flag during the match.
3
3
3
The flashpoint came as Martin Boyle celebrated his second half penalty on the night which moved him onto an incredible 101 goals for the club.
The home fans were far from happy about it, as it was awarded on VAR and compounded the earlier dismissal of Vukasin Durdevic for a second yellow card when he was adjudged to have fouled Kieron Bowie.
In a video which has been widely shared on social media the group of home fans, all dressed in black, are shown charging past stewards to confront Hibees fans, with one fan managing to haul the green, white and black ‘Union Jack’ style flag from the railing at the front of the section.
There’s still some work for the Hibees to do but they will fancy their chances of progressing to the Conference League knockout round, where they’re likely to take on Legia Warsaw, surprise 4-1 first leg losers to AEK Larnaca of Cyprus.
Read More Football Stories
Aside from losing via a stunning late goal to Danes Midtjylland, it’s been a strong start for David Gray’s men.
After his players celebrated with 350 delirious travelling fans on the night, Gray beamed:“It’s a fantastic scoreline for us, a fantastic effort in a brilliant atmosphere.
“Partizan’s fans were incredible for 90 minutes, they kept singing the whole time. And added to that, the Hibs supporters who came over were doing exactly.
“It was fantastic, a proper European tie.
“I’m delighted for Boyley. That’s 101 goals for the club. He’d ben sitting on 99 for a while but he fully deserves the milestone because he’s constantly delivered for years.
“He’s really stepped up into a leadership role. He always leads by example and we saw that yet again here.”
But it was typical of Gray that he refused to even consider that the tie might be over despite flying home with a two-goal lead.
“If you’d offered us 2-0 here we’d obviously have taken it, but it’s still only half-time and we have a lot of improvements to make.
“We missed a few chances that might have made it a very different night, but the players will learn a lot from everything that happened here.
“My message to them before hand was to be the best you can, even though it would be intimidating out there.
“As to the decisions, I think the second yellow was maybe a little soft, but I can understand why it was given. It was good to get the first goal almost straight away – but credit to Partizan, they kept coming at us with ten men.
“Some teams would just sit in and try to protect it at 1-0, but their reaction shows this tie is still alive.
“We have a lot of work still to do in the next week.”
Partizan coach Srdjan Blagojevic sighed: “I said that Hibernian would be a different challenge to what we have faced before and so it proved.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
“The game definitely changed when we had a man sent off, but I still think our inexperience showed a little.
“I congratulate Hibernian, but now we look forward to next week and giving our best to try and stay in the tie.”
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
