Parker’s missed off as Hibees squander chances for a spree
Garry Parker praised Daryl Horgan for stealing Ryan Gauld’s debut limelight with a double but was still frustrated Hibs let Elgin off lightly.
The Hibees No.2 admitted a host of missed chances stuck in his throat.
Gauld took his Easter Road bow after his loan move from Sporting Lisbon but Parker insists he’s only one of a host of players required to play a bigger role in the second half of the campaign.
Parker said: “We had more than a few chances to score so it should have been a bigger scoreline. Hopefully we will get a few goals on Wednesday night at Motherwell.
“It’s a clean sheet and the most important thing is that we won the game. Horgan was good, he scored two goals and did well.
“It’s not just Daryl who we need to have on form for the second half of the season, we need everyone to push if we are to get into the top six. That’s the target and that’s what we’ve told them.”
Gauld was tidy on the ball as he picked his passes without being put under serious pressure and Parker is delighted to have such an intelligent player on board.
He said: “You could see with Ryan he’s a clever player, he can see a pass and that’s what we’ve been missing.
“He’s going to be a player who will make a difference for us. His pass through for the Kamberi goal was excellent and he finished it well.
“Florian should also have scored the penalty but he’s looking sharp. This was a good game to come into.”
Gauld set up Hibs’ opener as he provided a sublime through ball in the 21st minute which allowed Kamberi to round the keeper and slot home.
With Elgin’s resistance broken it was a question of how many for Hibs and they doubled their lead just four minutes later.
A cross from the left by Vykintas Slivka was nodded in by Horgan to take the tie beyond the League Two side.
A third was prevented on the half-hour as keeper Thomas McHale was the Elgin hero, denying Kamberi from the spot after a foul on Steven Whittaker in the box.
That only delayed the inevitable as Hibs stretched their lead further.
This time it was successful spot-kick fired past McHale by Stevie Mallan seconds before the break after Kamberi had been bundled over.
Elgin should have reduced the deficit in the 47th minute when Rabin Omar found himself on his own inside the box but his big moment was spoiled when he slashed his shot wide.
The fourth goal arrived in the 52nd minute thanks to a clinical finish by Horgan from a few yards out as he fired home from Whittaker’s cross.
The foot was now off the gas for Hibs but only Oli Shaw will know how he failed to make it five after carelessly sidefooting wide in the 70th minute as the game now hit training ground tempo.
One concern for the Hibees was an injury to keeper Adam Bogdan ,who had to be replaced by Ofir Marciano after bravely diving at the feet of Chris McLeish.
It should have been a more handsome winning margin for Hibs but a fifth-round spot was booked with little fuss.
Elgin boss Gavin Price said: “We were always going to be up against it but my players stuck together. I was started to fear a real hiding so I’m glad we defended right to the end.”