Hibernian will take a valuable lead to North Macedonia for the second leg of their Conference League third qualifying round clash after overcoming Shkendija 2-1.
Hibs had gone in front in the 73rd minute through Owen Elding, only for the visitors to level less than three minutes later courtesy of Marko Gjorgjievski.
However, Warren O’Hora notched a 90th-minute winner when he bundled in a Jordan Obita corner to leave Hibs in a good position to reach the competition’s play-off round when they make the trip to Skopje for the second leg.
The visitors made a confident start but that soon faded away as Hibs began to settle, and their first meaningful opportunity came after 13 minutes when Adam Mayor floated a free-kick to the back post.
Jason Kerr connected but his glancing header bounced wide.
A well worked move then saw Josh Mulligan thread a ball through for Martin Boyle in the box but the forward’s turn and shot was deflected wide for a corner.
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Elding and Nathan Lowe linked well at times up front but Hibs struggled to really penetrate.
Irishman Elding took it upon himself to drive forward before unleashing a low left-footed drive that whistled just wide.
Defender O’Hora then registered a shot on target but his effort was comfortable for goalkeeper Ferat Ramani.
The frustration among the Hibs support was evident during the first half and there were more groans after the break as they made their feelings clear about their team’s decision-making.
Shkendija were more adventurous after the interval and Hibs keeper Rafa Sallinger was forced into a smart save to keep out Drilon Islami’s deflected drive.
At the other end Mulligan and Miguel Chaiwa both fired wide.
Home boss David Gray turned to his bench and brought on Callum Wright for his competitive debut and Ante Suto.
Suto was involved right away with a lay-off for Felix Passlack but the wing-back’s stinging shot was straight at Ramani.
Wright looked lively and he made the difference in the 73rd minute when he got to the bye line before his dangerous low pass was flicked in with an audacious back heel from Elding.
However, Hibs’ joy was short lived after the visitors levelled less than three minutes later. Captain Arvin Zejnullai sprang clear before feeding Gjorgjievski and the substitute clipped the ball past Sallinger from a tight angle.
There was more drama to come as O’Hora grabbed a precious 90th-minute winner. The Irishman was left with a simple tap-in after Kerr’s header from Obita’s corner came back off the post.
Hibs came close to a third in the final seconds but Kerr had an effort cleared off the line.
