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MANAGER Paul Hartley praised the players after taking Hibs right to the wire in a thrilling Betfred League Cup clash at an almost empty Balmoral Stadium.

The Edinburgh side, who are currently third in the Scottish Premiership, edged it 2-1 but it took an astonishing last minute save from Hibs stopper Dillon Barnes to deny Jamie Semple the equaliser that could have sent the tie into the drama of a penalty shoot-out to claim an extra point.

Defender Daniel Higgins had fired us ahead in the first half with a stunning free-kick but Hibs responded with second half strikes from Jamie Gullan and Kevin Nisbet to edge the first ever meeting between the clubs.

Only the players, officials and media were allowed inside the ground to see our first competitive outing since March.

But the Cove fans tuned in to the live screening on Premier Sports – and the small group who watched from the public pathway  overlooking Balmoral Stadium – will have been pleased with the way we pushed our full-time opponents all the way.

The manager certainly was.

He said: “I can’t praise the players enough, I thought they were outstanding.

“It was an astonishing effort when you consider it was our first competitive game for seven months – against opponents who were playing their 12th competitive one of the season.

“Our players deserve so much credit for taking them right to the wire, it’s just a pity we didn’t take something from the game.

“We certainly deserved to.

“We caused Hibs problems right throughout the game.

“The players showed great movement, were brave on the ball and created a good few chances.

“It was pleasing we were still looking strong in the last 20 minutes as well, despite the fact we hadn’t played a match of such intensity for so long.

“The players should be proud that they were able to do that.

“It also looked as if the winning goal came about after we didn’t get a free-kick for a challenge on Daniel Higgins, which was disappointing.

“At the same time, the players know they have got to react better in those sort of situations, but that was the only disappointing thing for us in the entire game.

“The players have set standards for themselves now though.

“We have another game up at Brora on Tuesday night and I will be looking for the same effort and intensity in the hope that we can get a better result in that one.”

Paul gave special mention to Cove left-back Harry Milne, who put in an excellent shift against Hibs’ Australian international striker Martin Boyle.

“Harry was absolutely brilliant,” said Paul.

“He was playing against one of the form players in Scotland in Martin Boyle but Harry coped with him really well.

“He defended strongly and also used the ball very well going forward.

“It’s good for him to know he can do so well against opponents of that level.

“It’s the same with Connor Scully and Blair Yule, the others who came up through the ranks at Cove and know the club so well.

“But they were just part of a great team performance, even though we lost there were lots of positives for us to take into the next game.”

As the manager stated, it was our first competitive match for an astonishing 211 days.

We were also without injured trio Fraser Fyvie, Ryan Strachan and Seb Ross, but took the game to Hibs from the off.

Strong running down the left from Adam Livingstone and a dangerous cross from the other wing by Mitch Megginson saw us force a couple of corners inside as many minutes.

Jamie Masson took the second one and found Scott Ross, who was unlucky to direct his 12 yard header off target.

Leighton McIntosh then got in behind the Hibs defence on the right but his cross back over from the byline just evaded Megginson at the edge of the six yard box before the ball was booted clear.

Hibs responded by almost talking the lead in the 10th minute from their first real attack.

Martin Boyle crossed the ball in from the right and Christian Doidge was unfortunate to see his downward header bounce back up off the pitch and strike the Cove crossbar before the ball was cleared.

We went ahead in the 17th minute after David Gray was penalised for fouling Masson 22 yards out.

HIGGINS took the free-kick and curled an unstoppable effort around the Hibs defensive wall and into the bottom corner, to the right of visiting keeper Barnes.

It could have been 2-0 in the 20th minute when Masson found Megginson from a free-kick but the skipper’s 16-yard shot was well saved by Barnes.

Stuart McKenzie matched that with an outstanding save from a close range shot by Boyle on the half hour.

Hibs midfielder Stephen Mallan also fired a 25-yard free-kick wide a couple of minutes later but there was no doubt we deserved to be ahead at the interval.

The visitors brought Gullan on for Drey Wright before the restart and the Hibs sub made an immediate impact by equalising in the 49th minute.

A swift passing move from Hibs ended with Boyle squaring the ball from the right for GULLAN to fire home from seven yards.

We immediately went in search of a second though.

Masson wasn’t too far off target with a 20-yard free-kick before Megginson sent his shot just wide after collecting a neat lay-off from McIntosh.

Hibs went ahead on the hour in controversial circumstances.

Higgins appeared to be fouled midway through our half but referee Euan Anderson awarded the free-kick to Hibs.

They took it quickly, before the back four could reorganise and when the ball reached Melker Hallberg on the right his cross was expertly volleyed home from 15 yards by NISBET.

We were unlucky again in the 68th minute when Megginson and McIntosh carved open the Hibs defence with a quick exchange of passes. 

The skipper was only inches away from getting on the return ball from his strike partner.

Hibs also brought on Kyle Magennis and his shot from a tight angle on the right was beaten away to safety by the diving McKenzie.

It needed a top drawer save from Hibs keeper Barnes to deny substitute Semple a dramatic 89th minute equaliser .

The midfielder, who is with us on loan from Motherwell, perfectly hit an acrobatic volley from outside the Hibs area that was going in until Barnes stretched to deflect the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips.

The Cove players were unhappy referee Anderson failed to spot Megginson was being held as he attempted to get on the end of the resulting corner.

Higgins also appeared to be fouled in the Hibs area deep into injury-time but the referee again waved play on as the Premiership side held out for their narrow win.

COVE RANGERS: McKenzie, Milne, Scully, Scott Ross, Yule, Megginson, Masson, McIntosh, Higgins, Livingstone (Semple 71), Graham.

Subs: Leighton, Watson, McAllister, Brown, Demus.

HIBERNIAN: Barnes, Gray, Wright (Gullan 46), Doidge, Boyle, Mallan, Nisbet, Stevenson, Hallberg, McGinn (Magennis 58), McGregor.

Subs: Samson, Mackie, Shanley, Elder.

Referee: Euan Anderson.

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