Monty confronts Hibs’ flaws after another late collapse
Dejected Hibs boss Nick Montgomery branded Hibernian’s season a failure after his team fell short in the battle for a top-six finish. And he cursed the recurring theme of losing horrible late goals as the dominant visitors succumbed to an ugly injury-time equaliser at Fir Park, writes John Greechan.
Failure to beat Motherwell, along with Dundee getting a point against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, saw Hibs condemned to a seventhplaced finish as the Scottish Premiership split. They’ll play their remaining five fixtures against relegation dodgers and fellow also-rans.
Montgomery bemoaned his side’s inability to see out a game they’d dominated either side of Myziane Maolida’s second-half penalty, saying: “As you can imagine, the boys are devastated, dejected. It’s 20 seconds to go, the fans are elated, we’re elated. Twenty seconds later, it’s devastation.
“I think it’s a game we should have won comfortably. We had enough chances to completely kill the game off. But if you don’t take them, if you make the wrong decisions in key moments, you can rue those missed chances. That was certainly the case today. We didn’t concede a shot on goal for 94 minutes.
“That has happened a little too often. You can say it’s unlucky. You can say it’s an injustice. But what we have to do is take responsibility, clear the header, clear the second ball.
“It’s a wonder-strike by the boy. But it’s their only shot in the game. It’s cost us two points and it’s cost us a spot in the top six.
“I’m disappointed and devastated for the players, for the fans. Because we grabbed the opportunity for 93-and-a-half minutes. Then we let ourselves down with one shot on target.”
After Dundee's topsix spot, Dark Blues boss Tony Docherty stated: "Our kitman was keeping in touch with the Hibs game, but the supporters got there before him.
"It was a day where we had to adapt. We threw on strikers and then the goal (for Motherwell) comes, so we throw on defenders.
"Today was a fantastic, gritty performance, but we've earned it over the course of the campaign. It's testament to the players and I'm so pleased for them."