With many predicting a difficult afternoon for us against an Arbroath side flying high in the Scottish Championship, we had to show resilience to bounce back from an early set-back as Craig Wighton fired the Angus men ahead.
The boys showed terrific character to rise to the challenge in difficult conditions and quickly equalised through Demetri Mitchell.
Kevin Nisbet scored a wonderful second goal after the interval to deservedly put us ahead and in the closing moments Chris Mueller notched his first goal for the club to secure victory.
Shaun Maloney made one change from the side that faced Rangers in midweek with Paul McGinn missing out through injury and Sylvester Jasper taking his place in the starting XI.
The on-loan Fulham attacker would line-up alongside Ewen Henderson in support of Nisbet up top in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Norwegian youngster Elias Melkersen was amongst the matchday squad for the first time since arriving in January and took his place on the bench.
With skipper Paul Hanlon still missing, Lewis Stevenson once again led the boys out as we visited Gayfield for the first time in competitive action since 1977.
Scottish Championship leaders Arbroath have been in formidable form at home this season and have not lost at Gayfield since July.
Dick Campbell’s side showed why they have been so strong at home this term by making an impressive start to the match and breaking the deadlock after only five minutes.
Colin Hamilton’s cross found Wighton at the back post, he attempted to head it back across goal only for the ball to strike Josh Doig and drop back at the feet of the striker who tucked it away at the second time of asking.
We needed to dig deep and respond positively to the early set back and we certainly did. Just moments after falling behind we had a good chance to level when Mitchell’s cut back found Nisbet and his goal-bound shot was blocked by a defender just in front of goal.
The running and trickery of Jasper was causing Arbroath problems and on 13 minutes he split the home defence and found the run of Henderson in behind. He steadied himself to pull the trigger but Colin Hamilton produced a stunning last-gasp challenge to thwart him.
We put the Red Lichties under enormous pressure, winning a series of corner kicks with Jake Doyle-Hayes and Chris Cadden both having efforts deflected just wide of goal.
It was not all one-way, though, and Arbroath remained a threat at the other end of the park with Michael McKenna shooting into the side netting as Matt Macey watched it closely.
Then, confusion reigned, and it almost cost us dearly as Arbroath should have doubled their advantage. Wighton chased down a ball into the corner and was flagged offside. However, as players switched off, Arbroath worked it into the middle and Colin Hamilton should have scored but was denied by a stunning block from Ryan Porteous who remained alert to the danger.
It would prove a costly miss as we levelled soon after. Stevenson floated a wonderful cross into the back post where the unmarked Mitchell nodded it beyond Derek Gaston for his second goal for the club.
The goal was little more than we deserved, and we were enjoying a lot of success by playing passes between the lines.
We did so again on 32 minutes when Doyle-Hayes' threaded ball found the run of Cadden in behind and his shot on the angle was kept out by a fine reaction stop from Gaston. We kept it alive only for Jasper’s follow up to drift over the crossbar.
Two minutes later and again Gaston’s heroics kept his side level. First, he denied Nisbet’s near post shot with his legs before quickly getting back to his feet and acrobatically tipping the striker’s volley over his crossbar from the rebound.
Just as they had in the first half, Arbroath started the second period impressively and we needed Macey to keep them out on several occasions.
The first came in the opening seconds when Rocky Bushiri misjudged a ball over the top and Wighton raced in on goal. The former Hearts striker took a heavy touch, and this was enough to allow Macey to bravely save at his feet.
Then, Scott Stewart and Jack Hamilton both had efforts saved by Macey in quick succession as the hosts bombarded our goal in the opening minutes.
We had the ball in the home net in between those efforts only for Nisbet to be flagged offside.
Similarly to the first half, we grew into the game and began dominating as we pushed Arbroath back towards their goal.
On 58 minutes a Cadden cross was deflected into the path of Mitchell at the back post but he was unable to turn it in this time and his first time shot slammed into the side netting.
The movement of Henderson saw him find space 25 yards from the Arbroath goal and his powerful strike was kept out by another fine save from Gaston as pressure began to grow on Campbell’s men.
Maloney’s first change saw Mueller replace Jasper and he almost made an immediate impact when he put Nisbet in on goal. For the second time this afternoon, the striker found the net only for his goal to be chalked off for offside.
A goal for us was merely delayed and it arrived in the 71st minute when Nisbet showed wonderful control to collect Henderson’s cross, go beyond his marker and slam his shot high into the Arbroath net to give Gaston no chance.
With four minutes remaining we made sure of our progression into the last eight of the competition when Mueller notched his first goal for the Hibees. He slotted the ball away - shooting across Gaston and into the far corner of the net - after Hamilton had made a mess of clearing Cadden’s cross.
It was the American’s first goal in green and white and he had a chance to grab a brace in the dying embers of the match when Stevenson picked him out, the ball appeared to hold up in the wind and although the striker stabbed the ball beyond Gaston, it finished just wide of goal.
We had one final chance to grab a fourth goal when Cadden was played through however Gaston saved brilliantly to deny him a goal that his performance merited.
An impressive, professional display from the boys as we deservedly progress into the Scottish Cup Quarter-Final.
Arbroath: Gaston, Thomson, Hamilton, Little, O’Brien, Henderson (Low 69’), McKenna (Bakare 87’), Hamilton (Donnelly 87’), Stewart, Hamilton, Wighton (Ford 87’). Substitutes not used: Gold, Hilson, Swankie, Linn, Antell.
Hibernian: Macey, Bushiri, Porteous, Stevenson, Cadden, Doyle-Hayes, Henderson (Wright 83’), Doig, Jasper (Mueller 65’), Nisbet (Doidge 83’), Mitchell (Campbell 77’). Substitutes not used: Dabrowski, Allan, McGregor, Scott, Melkersen, Mitchell.
Referee: Willie Collum.
Attendance: 4,049.
