David Gray praised Martin Boyle for “constantly delivering” for Hibernian after the long-serving forward brought up his century for Hibernian with a double in their “unbelievable” 2-0 victory away to 10-man Partizan Belgrade.
The 32-year-old, who first joined the Hibees more than a decade ago, helped the Edinburgh club capitalise on a 34th-minute dismissal for Vukasin Durdevic as they pulled off one of their most notable European results in decades in the Serbian capital.
Captain Boyle scored his 100th goal for the Hibees in the 40th minute before notching his second of the evening from the penalty spot midway through the second half as Gray’s side seized full command of their Conference League third qualifying round tie at the half-way stage.
“Martin Boyle constantly delivers for this club,” the Hibs boss told BBC Scotland.
“That’s 101 goals now, to do that shows how much of a threat he is and he demonstrated that again tonight.
“Not just that, I spoke a lot last season about him and the leadership skills, he needed that extra responsibility to take him on to the next level and he’s delivering.
“I’m delighted for him on a personal note because he’s been sitting on 99 goals for a while now, so he can start passing to other players now!”
If Hibs can close out the tie in the return leg at Easter Road next Thursday, they will face a Conference League play-off against the loser of the Europa League qualifier between AEK Larnaca and Legia Warsaw, with the Cypriot side leading 4-1 after the first leg.
Gray was thrilled with the result in the hostile Partizan Stadium but the manager is taking nothing for granted.
“To come here and win 2-0 was unbelievable,” he said. “It was some effort. You ask the players to come over here and make sure the tie is still alive when you go home, and we’ve certainly done that.
“We’ve put ourselves in a fantastic position but I reminded the players it’s only half-time in the tie. Based on our second-half performance, there’s plenty to improve on.”
