Hibernian FC

Darren McGregor gave a brutally honest assessment of his Under-18s side's exit from the Scottish Youth Cup following a "very poor" away defeat to Hearts.

It was an exciting occasion at Oriam as the Edinburgh Derby took place to decide which capital club would be progressing to the final four of the competition.

However, Hibs U18s were well beaten on the day by a Hearts side that showed physical superiority and continued attacking threat throughout the 90.

Speaking to Hibs TV, Hibs U18s Head Coach Darren McGregor discussed his side's lack of quality across the entire park in "every department". 

"It was very poor. Games like this, you build them up before the game starts. It's a derby, it's the Scottish Cup.

"We know what's at stake, we know that they're a strong team, especially at that age group. But you want a desire and an application from the lads from the get-go. And I felt that we never got that at the start of the game, we never got it throughout the game. And the scoring reflected that, and I think we were lucky to get away with just the three, to be honest.

"It should give the lads a bit of perspective because, as I said at half-time and after, it's not acceptable to be at this football club in a competition like this against our bitter rivals. You need to be better, you have to be better in every department, and we failed in quite a lot tonight, which was really disappointing."

The hosts ran into a deserved two-goal lead by the break before capping off the result with a third deep into the second 45. 

Hearts had plenty of chances to add to the scoreline, while Hibs undeniably struggled to create more than a smattering of half-chances throughout - which McGregor reflected on. 

"I think physically they were a lot stronger. They had players in certain positions that were men, and we never dealt with that at all. When we did try to play, they pressed us, they took it off us, they forced us into errors.

"We tried to go long and their centre-backs were quite happy, winning the duels; our centre-midfielders picked up the second balls, and then when we did get it, we panicked, we were flustered, we gave it back to them. 

"So that just feeds their fuel, feeds their fire, and in the first half we were lucky to get away with the goals that we conceded. It was difficult because we've got a young goalkeeper in there as well. I felt that the lads could have protected them better. It's up to these lads now, off the back of that, to actually work harder in HTC, away from HTC, because we need to try and bridge that gap."