Ofir Marciano had a hard act to follow if he wanted to hog the headlines after Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden, after the performance his predecessor Conrad Logan put in during last season’s win over Dundee United at the same stage. But he almost managed it.

In the final minute of stoppage time, the keeper was waved forward by manager Neil Lennon in a last-ditch attempt to force extra-time, and he managed to climb highest to get a decent header on target that his Aberdeen counterpart Joe Lewis had to look lively to keep out.

Unfortunately for the Israeli though, his part in the tale of the narrow and rather cruel defeat to the Pittodrie side at the weekend was one of woe, with his culpability at Aberdeen’s second goal undeniable.

Ryan Christie succeeded in catching Marciano out at his near post from a free-kick wide on the Aberdeen right, and while the porous defensive wall did him no favours, he really should have done better than palm the ball into the net.

“I expected a shot and that is why I stayed in but the wall moved,” Marciano explained. “I saw the ball late and by that point it was already in the net. I need to see it and to analyse it and make sure I do better in that type of situation next time.

“It is hard because we did brilliantly to come back and score two goals.

“I didn’t see my header. I heard the fans getting excited but then the goalkeeper made a good save.

“We tried but we fell just short. It would have been special but it wasn’t to be.”

The fact that Hibs were still in the game late on after a calamitous start is a credit to their character, but manager Neil Lennon was less than charitable in his post-match post-mortem, as he savaged his players for the manner of the goals they lost.

The opener from Adam Rooney was equally as poor from a Hibs point of view, with a nervous-looking Darren McGregor selling Efe Ambrose short with a pass to allow Adam Rooney to nick in and slam home with just 12 seconds on the clock.

But the way they refused to roll over after such a woeful start was appreciated by their supporters at the end of the match, and Marciano says that their recovery shows they aren’t quite falling back into their old ‘boy-band’ ways, as their manager suggested afterwards.

“We started the game poorly and I thought we panicked quite a bit,” said the Hibs number one. “You can see we have a really good group who put their heart into the game and how we brave we were to fight back into the game.

“I felt we would win it and go to the final but then we lost an unlucky goal.”

Indeed they did, with the winner from Jonny Hayes four minutes from time deflecting off the shins of the unfortunate McGregor to wrong-foot Marciano and end Hibs’ gallant defence of the trophy.

“I had it covered until it hit the defender and there wasn’t much I could do about it,” Marciano groaned. “These things can happen in football but I am very proud of the way we played but disappointed that we lost. The most important thing is to keep doing the right things and hopefully next season it is going to be better.”

Whether Marciano is still around next season as Hibs return to the top level in Scotland remains to be seen, with his loan spell from Ahdod in his homeland ending with the current campaign. He is keen to hang around though, after finding life in Leith more than agreeable.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “I haven’t discussed it yet. “I like it here, the atmosphere at the club and the way I have been treated.

“We have achieved most of our goals but I don’t know what the future holds yet. It is up to the two teams to decide because I am only on loan here.

“The club will only get bigger in the Premiership but I will have to wait to the summer to see what I will be doing.”