This match was like a greatest hits album of a Scottish side in the early rounds of European qualifying.
Largely unheard of opposition who were only formed 10 years ago and had not won a single European tie before last week, on a pitch which cut up so badly players were falling all over the place.
The only missing factor was sweltering heat, although Hibs played the first half as though it was over 30C given how sluggish they looked.
Gray predicted his side would face an aggressive, motivated and intense team and his analysis was spot on.
The problem was his side struggled to cope with it, and when they did dominate possession and territory too often the quality was lacking as pass after pass went astray.
The few hundred Hibs fans who made the journey were at least treated to the sunshine behind a goal in the bowl-like Fadil Vokrri Stadium.
They can also take encouragement from the fact Malisheva have lost all three of their away European matches by a total score of 13-1 – Vikingur of Iceland beat them 8-0 a year ago.
Still, Hibs will need much better next week if they want to continue their quest for the league phase, which looks a daunting task after Malisheva’s late second goal.