By John Greechan

Copyright scotsman

An opportunity missed. Not a sitter or a tap-in. But certainly one of those chances that the very best put away without fuss or fanfare. Hibs were presented with just such an opening at Ibrox yesterday. And David Gray’s men missed the target. Whether it was by a hair’s breadth or half a fathom hardly matters; as a former teacher, a World War II veteran with a penchant for North American outdoor games, used to tell us: “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades …” That Hibs should lose a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers is, in the grand scheme of historical happenings, barely a footnote. Even if losing to THIS Rangers feels mildly insulting to the pride of travelling supporters who headed to Govan in such numbers – and with such high hopes. In truth, there was something of an inevitability about Russell Martin’s beleaguered misfits finding a performance down the back of the sofa, eventually. From the moment Nico Raskin returned from his internal exile, the footballing deities were always likely to press a thumb on the scales in favour of the Light Blues. Of far greater concern to Hibs fans will be the vulnerabilities of their own team. And the flaws laid bare in a contest that might have been closer – but could also have ended up a whole lot worse than the final 2-0 score line. Good teams capable of competing at the business end of the Scottish Premiership, and progressing to the latter stages of the elite knock-out competitions, tend to have a miserly bent. They view every goal conceded as a punch in the mouth for EVERY single player on the pitch. Hibs have moved away from those tendencies. Almost as if some of the guys out there are waiting for someone else to take responsibility for allowing shots and headers on target. Gray, when asked why Hibs still seemed to be just a few key elements short of a complete team, insisted: “We still need to keep improving – because we’re not that at all. I think that’s something that I’ve said a lot. “One thing I have got, as I’ve said numerous times, it’s a very good group that are working really hard all the time. We’re creating enough chances; I would be much more concerned if we weren’t creating the chances that we had. We carried enough of a threat in the first half, not so much in the second half, but we have been creating enough chances. “But it’s big moments in games. You need to be taking the chances when you’re creating them. “And then defensively, we’ve conceded too many poor goals of late, which is something that clearly it’s my responsibility to fix. That’s an area in which we need to do that.” VAR and handball, eh? Last week, Martin Boyle’s goal would probably have stood. Next week, it might be OK again. Gray, for his part, had no complaints about the ‘opener’ being chalked off. The handball law, as he understood it, was applied just as managers and players expected it to be. But there’s always an argument to be made. If it’s not deliberate. And the advantage isn’t clear. And it feels slightly odd for there to be different classes of handball offence; you wouldn’t necessarily give a penalty for what Boyle did, but it is enough to disallow a goal. The positive news? Hold the front pages, but VAR actually worked, in this instance. The problem for Hibs is that, if you’re going to go and win at Ibrox, it helps if some of the 50-50 calls go your way. Taken as a whole, Hibs have not enjoyed a great start to the domestic season. Even if yesterday’s loss was their first defeat on the home front. Europe got in the way for a while, of course. But now it feels like Gray’s men are firmly ensconced in the trenches, slowly scrapping their way towards some sort of form. Victory at Falkirk on Tuesday night is essential for a team who head to Celtic Park next weekend. Because the Scottish Premiership is a brutal grind of a competition. Gray, whose contrasting experiences between the start and finish of his first season in management taught him plenty about the power of momentum, is nothing if not level-headed when it comes to the challenge, the gaffer reacting to yesterday’s loss by saying: “I’m not going to get carried away and be too downhearted about what I’ve got. I know we need to improve, I say it all the time, and it’s certainly no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’re all back on Tuesday night, an opportunity straight away to get back on the pitch to try and put things right.” Your next Hibs read: Gray weighs in on ‘inconsistency’ surrounding handball