Hibs were tonight cruelly dumped out of the UEFA Youth League by a last-minute Borussia Dortmund strike.
Steve Kean's under-19 side had surpassed expectations to reach the play-off round but couldn't overcome the German youth charges.
The Leith youngsters had looked to provide another upset in the competition after an early opener from Jacob Blaney as the centre back powered home a header from a Robbie Hamilton cross after 26 minutes.
But, Dortmund would be gifted a route back into the match 20 minutes from time with the visitors awarded a penalty following Owen Hastie's handball.
READ MORE: Hibernian have lost Ryan Porteous, but gained a defensive backbone
Hibs skipper Murray Aitken had been receiving treatment off the pitch when Murray Johnson fumbled in the box leading to the handball. Dortmund striker Julian Rijkoff made no mistake from 12 yards to restore parity.
Ethan Laidlaw threatened to snatch the headlines as he set off on a stunning surging run after 57 minutes.
The midfielder blocked on the edge of his own box before galloping into the Dortmund 18-yard zone but dragging an effort just wide.
The match looked destined to be decided by spot-kicks from then on until the intervention of substitute Hendry Blank's late sucker-punch strike.
The full-back remained composed in the box to slot into the far corner and send Dortmund - coached by former Hearts loanee Mike Tullberg - into the last 16.
Blaney went close to a leveller six minutes into stoppage time before another Silas Ostrzinski stop denied a sensational equaliser.
Tensions boiled over at full-time with Hisb players adamant the ball had crossed the line before the full-time whistle and calls for a spot-kick of their own in the closing stages.
At The Herald and Times we know the importance of reaching you where it's convenient, which is why we've engaged top sportswriter James Morgan to bring you an irreverent daily update on what's happening in the world of sport. Be it football, golf, rugby, cricket or something more exotic, James will tread where the best stories take him. To get this exclusive bespoke piece sent directly to your email inbox for free every day at 5pm, simply take a few seconds to type in your email here. It's that simple!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel