We never really got going
Williamson and Murdock point to the lack of shooting opportunities for Rangers rather than just the result…

DESPITE BEING ON TOP AS FAR AS GOAL SCORING OPPORTUNITIES ARE CONCERNED, Hibs have once again been dumped out of the Scottish Cup at an early stage by a Rangers side that were very much there for the taking.  A distinct lack of good service to the front pairing of Garry O'Connor and Stephen Dobbie didn't help to make their job any easier but the loss of Grant Brebner after just over ten minutes of the first half was probably the single most important factor in the gradual loss of any advantage that Hibs had in the midfield area at the start of the game.  With Brebner now likely to miss the rest of the season with the injury, Bobby Williamson was clearly a disappointed man after the game.

“It is a major blow for the club. Grant is our most experienced offensive player and so for him to pick up an injury which he has done is a major blow to both Grant and the club – he will be missed. He has dislocated a shoulder and broken a bone in his upper arm so as I said it is a very big blow for the player and the club.”  With only Alen Orman classed as being in both the 'experienced' and 'fit' categories, the young midfield has started to look very young indeed with the onus now falling onto the shoulders of Kevin Thomson despite only having eleven first team appearances to his name, something that he had to cope with in the immediate aftermath of Brebner's injury, although Colin Murdock believes that the midfielder coped well with the added responsibility.

Thomson - worked hard once again after loss of Brebner (sns)

"In my view Grant has been our most consistent players this season said Murdock. He is so comfortable on the ball and has the ability to dictate play and so his loss is a big blow for us, a huge disappointment. I am sad for Grant but someone else will get his chance now and I hope he can come in and take the opportunity."  Murdock also added, "Kevin was immense given the circumstances and I can tell you he is every bit as disappointed in the outcome as I am myself and as are the rest of the team. We never really got going and that is what is so hard to take."  Disappointment and the Scottish Cup seem to go very much hand in hand at Easter Road and Colin Murdock felt as much of this as anyone else at full time.  "To be honest I feel quite disheartened by the outcome of the game as I had thought Rangers could be beaten and although we applied ourselves well enough we failed to create any decent chances and once the second goal went in we had a mountain to climb. Rangers became very much more composed after that goal and were probably deserved winners on the day."

The thorn in Hibs side was once again Dane Peter Lovenkrands, the winger setting up the first goal and scoring the second.  Murdock has come under fire from some fans with regards to his actions in the lead up to the second goal as Lovenkrands raced on Daniel Andersson in the Hibs goal.  The Northern Ireland defender explained, "I didn’t expect him to shoot, I thought he would cross the ball so I went to cover the middle of the goals but he fooled us all."  Williamson agreed with this summer signing in respect of how difficult it is to completely snuff out the danger he poses for a full game.

“Lovenkrands is a difficult player to play against at times, if you let him get in behind you then there is no catching him. That certainly proved to be the case with the second goal. We had a chance to win the ball in the midfield but did not take it, then missed out on a couple of tackles and that left the space in behind with out centre back having been pulled out of position. Lovenkrands exploited that which he is more than capable of doing and finished well. It was disappointing, we know what his strengths are but trying to combat them and stop them is difficult.”

Another frustrating aspect of the game was the performance of referee Mike McCurry who left the field at half time to a chorus of Hibs fans booing him and, in particular, his stand side assistant.  Williamson however would not be drawn too much on the whistler's performance given his previous talking to by the powers that be over comments made on match officials.  "I did not think that the game was allowed to run at all in the first half, there were a lot of breaks in play but for me to go on about the reasons for that would be to criticise the referee and I’m certainly not going down that road.”  One aspect of the performance given by all four match officials that is sure to be looked at in more detail is the apparent advice given out to Alex McLeish over the likelihood of Nuno Capucho not staying on the park.  While Alex McLeish's post match comments seemed to indicate that he was given advice, advice which saw Michael Mols get stripped and ready to come onto the park, there is sure to be another, more vigorously defended story to come from the foursome.  Whether anything does come from the incident, there's no doubt that it had no real effect on a game that Hibs truly never looked like winning.