Hurray, finally we get our time and distance calculations right and arrive at the ground a mere ten minutes before kick off. Guess it helps when you live within 20 minutes walking distance to the stadium.
Huge home support for Hibs' first home game of the season; which is a surprise as Hibs are sitting 3-0 down from the first leg. I hope they do well as the Scottish clubs haven't given a great account of themselves in Europe so far this season.
Hibs started nice and brightly and everyone's favourite Edinburgh clubber Derek Riordan should have scored early on, but he shot straight at the keeper from 8 yards. The large home support were loud and in good singing spirits for the first 20 minutes, although lacking the jovial banter of the other games this far, until the Slovenians scored and then it got very quiet.
A sucker punch goal with some sloppy defending at a corner allowed Tavares (Brazillian striker, not the disco funk soul band from America) scored from 5 yards. It was amazing to see the crowd support disappear almost immediately and soon they turned on their own players - Colin Nish receiving most of the vitriol.
Half time came and the rush for the pie stand was fierce. Sorry Callum, no picture of the Haute cuisine this week; I chose the wrong queue, waited for ten minutes, coming away empty handed. Very poor performance from the catering staff, who runs out of pies at the first game!?! Still if I'd been less well fed, I could have got a half time half pizza for £2.70.
Hibs started the second half the brighter but were far too reliant on the long ball over the top. De Graaf was incredibly fortunate to get on the scoresheet for Hibs with a massive deflection from a Stokes shot. Just as the crowd in the South Stand started to believe that it might be possible after all, Kevin McBride chopped down an opponent in the penalty box and the ref pointed to the spot. Even before the penalty hit the back of the net, the clack of the emptying plastic seats was louder than any first half singing, signalling a mass exodus of home fans.
Maribor were a class above and the Hibs crowd showed their appreciation for a brilliantly worked third goal - the second of the game for Tavares - with the emptying of another couple of thousand of seats!
It took a long while for the humour to show through in this game but eventually with 10 minutes to go the home support started ironically cheering every touch and pass from Hibs with an Ole here and an Ole there. Hibs' De Graff managed to salvage a second goal a minute from time. But to be honest this flattered a poor Hibs team and everyone was probably happy to hear the final whistle.
The Statistics
Ticket Price: £15 (£10 concession)
Programme: £3
Attendance: 12,504
Pie: £2.30 - well it would have been if I'd got to buy one!!
Man of the Match: Dad - Armin Bacinovic Me - Dejan Mazga
Final Score: Hibs 2 - 3 NK Maribor
Mileage: 1 mile (walking distance)
Fact of the Day: Hibernian got to the semi-final of the first European Cup in 1955/56
Next Ground: Galabank Stadium - Annan Athletic (7th August)
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