Hibs Urged to Harness Comeback Spirit Against Malisheva
Joelle Murray has seen this movie before. Hibernian go into a European second leg with work to do, the mood around Easter Road twitchy, the stakes obvious. And yet, in her mind, this is familiar territory rather than a lost cause.
The women's team head coach believes Hibs’ long-standing knack for rescuing ties after poor first legs has to become more than folklore when Malisheva visit Leith in the Conference League second qualifying round on Thursday night. The Kosovan side arrive with a 2-0 advantage from last week’s opener. The margin is clear. So is the task.
For Murray, the route back starts with attitude, not arithmetic.
She wants Hibs on the front foot from the first whistle, not easing their way into the tie, not waiting to feel their way into the contest. The players, she insists, must use the stadium as a weapon.
She knows exactly how sharp that weapon can be.
“I know the Easter Road crowd can be unforgiving at times,” she told the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast, a line that will resonate with anyone who has heard the grumbles turn to full-throated fury on a bad night in Leith.
The flip side, of course, is that when Hibs show intent, the noise lifts them. The stadium becomes a surge.
Murray’s prescription is simple and aggressive: forward passes, penetrating passes, tempo from the outset. No safe sideways rhythm, no early nerves. Just a team that looks like it believes 2-0 is a challenge, not a sentence.
With that approach, she argues, an early goal changes everything. One strike, and the tie feels alive again. One strike, and Malisheva’s composure is tested for the first time on Scottish soil. One strike, and Easter Road remembers all those nights when Hibs dragged themselves off the canvas.
“They've obviously got history of overturning a poor first leg in the second one,” Murray said. That history now hangs over this game like a demand. Supporters have seen it before; they will expect to see it again.
The optimism is not blind. Murray is acutely aware that Hibs will have to do it without key pieces. Wing back Nicky Cadden remains sidelined, as does new signing Callum Wright and midfielder Jamie McGrath. All three miss out again through injury, stripping the side of energy, creativity and experience in key areas.
Those absences hurt, particularly in a match where Hibs must chase the game and still guard against the away goal that would turn a comeback into a mountain.
There is, at least, one shaft of light. Striker Ante Suto could return, and Murray doesn’t hide how important that might be for a team that simply has to attack.
“Another attacking player is good because that's what we need from the get-go, getting on the front foot, getting an early goal,” she added.
It is a clear, almost blunt game plan: throw the first punch, drag the crowd with you, and let the weight of Easter Road and Hibs’ comeback history bear down on Malisheva.
If this club really does have a habit of rewriting second legs, tonight is when that reputation either grows stronger or starts to sound like an old story.
