Hibs scraped through to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup but were made to work for it by magnificent Cove Rangers.The Easter Road side were taken all the way to extra time by the ambitious Aberdeenshire outfit.Kevin Nisbet was the hero after 112 minutes of play as he ensured the 2016 winners would be in the hat for the next round with a 1-0 win.
But the performance and slender result gives manager Shaun Maloney something to think about given one key absence. The team news almost threatened to make this tie something of a sideshow when Martin Boyle was scrubbed from the squad with a big money move to Saudi Arabia seemingly imminent.
And it might have been had they come up against a less ambitious lower league side, one just happy to be part of the occasion.
It was down to those on the park to get the job done and Maloney's side offered a vision of the future with Chris Mueller and Ewan Henderson making their debuts for Hibs.
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