Pat Fenlon hails Hibs side after thrilling Scottish Cup comeback

Pat Fenlon hailed his Hibs side following their dramatic Scottish Cup victory over Falkirk.

Trailing 3-0 at the break, Hibs won 4-3 after extra time to book a Cup final place against Dundee United or Celtic.

"The first-half performance was very poor and I apologise to the supporters for that because it's not good enough," said Fenlon.

"The players themselves had plenty to say at half-time, but it was a tremendous comeback."

The Bairns swept into a three-goal first-half lead thanks to Craig Sibbald's strike, Jay Fulton's stooping header and Blair Alston's finish.

But goals from Alex Harris, Leigh Griffiths and Eoin Doyle brought extra-time.

Griffiths banished the disappointment of an earlier penalty miss with a stunning 20-yard winner late on.

"It was a horrendous first half, but we showed tremendous character and played really well after that," said Fenlon.

"It wasn't much of a team talk and more of a rant, but it worked. But, in fairness to the players, they knew they'd let themselves down and the fans.

"I felt like leaving myself at half-time. It was difficult to watch and difficult to take and I apologise to the supporters for that first half - and that's down to me.

"But what they have shown is that there's massive, massive character within the group and they've shown that in spades - and that end of the game was different class."

"Young Danny (Handling) and Alex (Harris) were different class for us and it was difficult for them to come on when we were chasing the game.

"Leigh Griffiths doesn't miss too many penalties, but we just got back to passing the ball after that. Today wasn't Leigh's best game for us, but the finish for the goal, that's him.

"He doesn't let things like that bother him and he's got a great attitude. I'm delighted for him too because he's Hibs-daft and wanted to be in the final; we're there now.

"We put everybody through the wringer today but have shown tremendous character. We've got five big league games to show that desire again too.

"We've had some tremendous games this year: Hearts in the first round and Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and now Falkirk; we'll worry about the final and see what happens then."