Hibs went into Thursday’s second leg as strong favourites given their excellent showing in Belgrade, but their two-goal lead slipped away in alarming fashion as goalkeeper Jordan Smith pushed Milan Vukotic’s long-range effort into the top corner before allowing Jovan Milosevic’s tame effort to squirm under him.
He trudged off at half-time to howls of dismay from the home supporters, but Gray believes the break came at a good time for his side.
“For large spells of the first half the shape was really good, we had the better chances and then there’s obviously a couple of mistakes,” Gray said.
“The character was certainly tested. Half-time came at a good time – I was able to calm them down and then it’s all about character.”
And they showed their character through Bowie’s inspired strike and through a string of Smith saves, who put his first-half horror show behind him admirably.
“I’m delighted for Jordan for his second-half performance,” Gray said. “He made big saves at big times.”
Gray was keen to point out that his team’s character was then tested again.
The tie looked done. Hibs were through, 3-2 up on aggregate with 30 seconds left of time added on.
That was before Partizan’s Andrej Kostic swept home in the 96th minute to force extra time.
However, unlike in Europa League qualifying against Midtjylland, there would be no heartache this time.
“The game became stretched, we lost control at times,” Gray said. “You think you’re over the line and then you have to go again for another 30 minutes.
“Now it’s all done and dusted there will be improvements to come from it, but that’s for another night.”
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