Gray Delighted After Historic Victory

Hibs Head Coach David Gray was delighted at full-time after he led Hibs to a historic 2-1 win at Celtic Park! 

Felix Passlack opened the scoring in the first half with a powerful diving header before Benjamin Nygren equalised with a header of his own just before the break. 

The Hibees were up to the task in the second half and after Auston Trusty was sent off for violent conduct, we made the numerical advantage count with Kai Andrews finding a late winner with an excellent finish in the closing stages.

The result ends a 16-year wait for a victory at Parkhead – the last coming in January 2010 – and speaking to Hibs TV after the match, Gray praised his players for their efforts. 

“I'm really pleased for the players – it's been a long time coming. I've challenged the players for a long time, since I came in, to recreate history in a positive way. 

“It's been a long time since we've had a team come here and win - so I'm delighted for everybody involved that we're going home with three points today.

“History shows you how difficult it is to come here and do that. Celtic were off the back of a poor result during the week, but we know we were still playing against a really good side - a team competing in Europe at a high level – and domestically they’ve been really strong. 

“Martin O'Neill has nine wins and one draw, and they're right in a title race for a reason – because they are a very good side.

“So, to come here, you need to show composure and have the belief that you can actually go and do it. To come and get a result, you need every single player to be at the very top of their game – and that includes the subs. I thought they came on and impacted the game in a positive way.

“All in all, I think we deserved it. I'm really pleased for everybody. I'm delighted for the fans, who can now go home after such a long time coming here with hope and expectation and we can all go home happy tonight.”

Reflecting on the 90 minutes as a whole, Gray praised the effort of his team in both boxes and was delighted with our clinical edge in front of goal.

“When you come here, you know you need to be really good defensively. Celtic put you under immense pressure, but I don't think they cut us open very often today.

“They had a lot of possession in dangerous areas, but we were in really good shape, we were compact and forced them into shooting from distance.

“I’m really disappointed with the goal we lost, if I'm being honest. I think that was avoidable from our point of view. 

“But you ask the players to be brave on the ball, and that’s something you need to be able to do here. You need to soak up pressure, keep the ball and be clinical when the chances come – I think we had the best chances of the game and we were clinical at the right time.

“When it goes to 10 men, there’s that mindset — do we hold on or do we go after it? We made the change to go to a back four rather than a back five to make sure we did everything we could to win the game. I’m delighted that Kai (Andrews) took his opportunity.”

That now makes it back-to-back wins for the Hibees and Gray is hoping his side can continue to build on this run of form between now and the end of the season.

“It’s a massive win because that’s back-to-back wins now. You can start to build momentum and belief within the group. I’ve said for a few weeks that once the squad gets a little more time together and we get a full week on the training pitch again, we’ll benefit massively from that.

"We’ve got a lot of young players adapting to Scottish football - Owen Elding made his first start at Celtic Park today at 19, Kai came on at 19. 

“We’ve got a lot of good players who will only get better with time, and we’ve also got key experienced players coming back from injury who will make us stronger towards the end of the season.

“We’re still chasing the team in front of us. Before the game, we were eight points behind Motherwell; now it’s back to five. Yes, they’ve got a game in hand and we’re still to play them twice. You want that momentum.

“We’ve shown again today that we can go toe-to-toe with Celtic. If we perform to our absolute maximum and deliver a complete performance, we’re a very good side and capable of beating anyone. That has to give us confidence that we can finish the season strongly.”