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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

David Gray credits Hibs support for sticking by their team during Aberdeen thriller

David Gray is defiant in his stance that Hibernian can turn their fortunes around quickly if they can produce more performances similar to their pulsating 3-3 draw with Aberdeen.

Rocky Bushiri scored his first goal for Hibs, earning that the spoils were shared in a thrilling Scottish Premiership match at Easter Road that featured three goals in added time.

The hosts commanded a deserved lead at half-time through Joe Newell's deflected effort, but they failed to hold onto it for the fifth time this season.

Aberdeen equalised with Jamie McGrath firing beyond Hibs goalkeeper Jordan Smith - who was making his first league appearance for the club - 10 minutes after the restart. 

And Nicky Devlin appeared to secure victory for the visitors with a well-placed finish following a corner on 76 minutes.

However, this exciting, end-to-end encounter wasn't over there. It was just getting started.

The chaos intensified as Nicky Cadden scored a stunning free-kick to level the match two minutes into stoppage time.

Substitute Ester Sokler then put Aberdeen ahead with an impressive overhead kick, seemingly sealing their win.

Yet, just over a minute later, Bushiri pounced on poor Aberdeen defending to net from close range, igniting celebrations from the home faithful and easing pressure on head coach Gray.

Gray, evidently delighted with his team's never-say-die attitude, now believes his players have shown that there's something to work from as they look to climb away from the foot of the table.

"I think we need to be positive, of course, because of the way that the game finished" he told BBC Sportsound. "We've been on the receiving end of this too many times, so from that point of view, it's certainly something to build from. 

"We need to be positive because the amount of commitment and effort that everybody is putting into it at the moment. If we can keep delivering performance levels like that, tidy up in areas which we know, I know we can turn this around quickly."


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Hibs fans voiced their frustration at the club's board amid their poor start to the season by unveiling multiple 'Sack the Board' banners during the match. 

But it was the Hibees support who left the stadium the happier come full-time, and Gray knows the importance of trying to keep them onside. 

"I think you seen that right to the very end," he indicated. "I've said that numerous times that it's my job to change this. I fully understand the frustrations from the crowd and the noise from the outside, purely because of where we find ourselves.

"But the crowd were with us right to the very end and we are going to need them to be there. They were fantastic tonight, staying right to the end and getting us over the line. Every game we've got moving forward when your in the position that we are in, we are all in it together, we've got to stick together and we really need them behind us to make sure that they drive us over the line.

"They play such a bit part and you seen that at the end of the game tonight."

(Image: SNS Group) Meanwhile, Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin felt his side needed to have better game management to see their way through to victory and admitted that there's still areas they need to improve.

"It was a really roller-coaster, emotional game," he said. "There were a lot of chances for both teams. It was not really controlled in some parts but still the positive thing was the team spirit and the players who bring in the qualities on the pitch in the second half. They made a huge impact with an assist and goals, and also how they fight for each other. 


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"That's the good thing from the game today that we came back from one down in an away game. We struggled in some parts of the game but still find a way to almost succeed to take the three points.

"The feeling we had directly after the game when we spoke in the dressing room was we made collective mistakes, we need to be more ready, the game isn't over until it's over, and we had to be much more impact in the last bit. They picked up many second balls when they score their last goal and that's tough learning for everyone. But that's football, we have to learn from that and move on."

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