When Nick Montgomery sprung a surprise with three simultaneous subs in a cup quarter-final delicately poised in its latter stages, you wondered if the Hibs manager was leaving enough on the park.

Even more so when Keanu Baccus rifled beyond David Marshall and St Mirren unexpectedly found themselves in the ascendency, a sudden chill sweeping around Easter Road that had nothing to do with Storm Agnes. The manager had opted to withdraw Elie Youan and the ruthlessly efficient Dylan Vente, only for the shape of the tie to change in an instant.

For a brief spell, Hibs’ became disjointed and threatened to lose their composure. Maybe it was a slight miscalculation from Montgomery, maybe he knew what he was doing all along but, either way, it gave rise to a demonstration of the depth and variety in his attacking options.

With Youan and Vente sitting on the bench, up stepped Martin Boyle to ensure there was to be no grand St Mirren comeback and, most importantly, safely secure that coveted place at Hampden. A Viaplay Cup semi-final against Aberdeen now awaits in November, but Hibs probably wish they could play it tomorrow.

READ MORE: Every word from Montgomery's post-match press conference

There’s momentum building at Easter Road and it’s largely down to Montgomery coaxing a tune from his forward line in next to no time at all. OK, there may be harder jobs in football than getting this group of talented attackers singing off the same hymn sheet, but history has shown it’s not a given they would assimilate with a new manager’s style of play so rapidly.

As it stands, Boyle now has six goals for the season, Vente has five, Youan sits on four while Adam Le Fondre and Christian Doidge have three apiece. On current form, it feels a relatively safe bet that at least three of them will end the season in double figures.

Hibs now have the firepower to simply outgun opponents, and despite a brief wobble after St Mirren equalised there was likely only ever going to be one winner once this tie became a straight shootout. There’s variety in there, too: Boyle and Youan provide pace and dynamism, Vente is a deadly finisher (and much more), Le Fondre is all nous and intelligence, while Doidge offers a viable ‘Plan B’ option to go direct when the game situation demands it.

What’s doubly encouraging for Hibs fans is that it remains a work in progress. Montgomery’s side were worthy winners in the end, thanks to an increased incisiveness and some clinical finishing, but the first-half was a struggle.

READ MORE: The big Hibs talking points from win over St Mirren - video

Hibs are not the first team to find St Mirren a fiendishly difficult nut to crack, nor will they be the last. Their back five and tight midfield three was all about denying Hibs’ front four space to operate, and thus we saw plenty of relatively harmless possession in front of the Buddies’ defensive setup, something their manager Stephen Robinson afterwards said he was happy with and had anticipated. Hibs lacked a link player between the midfield and forward line – there were a few occasions Joe Newell and Jimmy Jeggo were in a different postcode to the attacking quartet when looking to build.

We so often talking about working and moving as a unit in a defensive sense, but it’s just as applicable going the other way. That first-half disconnect made it difficult for Hibs to advance into the final third to sustain attacks.

As it was against St Johnstone, St Mirren paid close attention to Newell and Jeggo but were relatively happy to let Hibs’ centre-backs have possession, and there was even a hint of trying to shepherd the ball towards Rocky Bushiri. Bushiri is a right-sided defender playing in a left centre-back role, and does not appear overly comfortable trying to progress the ball forward from that area, there even being a couple of occasions where he drove sideways in possession as if to try and position himself for a more natural right-footed pass. It could be a confidence issue as he adjusts to a new style under a new manager, but if Montgomery can find a way to get his centre-backs making more progressive passes, the tactical stand-off of Wednesday evening’s first-half would become quite different.

All over the pitch, though, there had been a lack of tempo about Hibs, and rather than trying to reinvent the wheel at the interval, Montgomery seemingly implored his players to keep doing what they were doing, only make it quicker. That requires some resilience after going behind at an inopportune moment, but that second-half was ample evidence it’s a quality he has already instilled in a group not always renowned for it.

The two quickfire goals from Youan and Vente knocked the stuffing out of St Mirren for a long spell, and it was only when Robinson opted to have his team press higher up the pitch, coupled with the uncertainty post-subs, that they looked more threatening. But going high up against this Hibs team also comes with danger, as we saw with Boyle twice breaking in behind as Saints chased the game, and that threat on the counter may just force future opponents to think twice about an aggressive approach.

Conceding twice in two of the last three matches will be a point of improvement for the manager, and although both of St Mirren’s goals were very well finished by Tanser and Baccus, Montgomery will feel his players made it too easy in the moments prior. Completely eradicating that tendency to concede soft goals will not be an overnight fix, it seems.

But when you have a forward line firing the way Hibs’ currently is, there’s always a chance they might just outscore most domestic opponents more often than not.