FORGET Gone in Sixty Seconds, it took Willie Collum just 56 seconds to set the tone in a fierce Scottish Cup quarter-final between Motherwell and Hibs as he flashed a red card.

It was near-enough the first real tackle of the afternoon when Bevis Mugabi was ordered off as he slammed into Josh Doig going over the top of the ball and catching his opponent on the ankle.

The decision looked to be the right one, but set up a furious further 93 minutes as Hibs battled to seal a trip to Hampden with Elias Melkersen netting a double on his first start.

Jordan Roberts could’ve walked just six minutes later but escaped with a yellow before Melkersen proved his worth with a deadly double in front of the wild 3000-strong travelling support.

Joe Efford pulled one back for the hosts in a breathless first-half but Motherwell couldn’t force a leveller as Hibs held on to make a sixth successive cup semi-final.

But it wasn’t without controversy over more decisions with Hibs possibly benefitting from some lenient decisions from Collum who allowed the excitable Melksersen to celebrate with the fans after being cautioned following an aerial collision – and Matt Macey not punished after a flashpoint with Ricki Lamie.

But winning-boss Shaun Maloney insists Collum was right in his judgements as he heaped praise on scorer Melkersen – who joined from Bodo/Glimt in January.

On Melkersen’s dream showing, Maloney said: "It's just amazing – it's his first start, and he can take every bit of credit and be really proud with what he did today, two brilliant goals.

“He's set a fairly high bar but they were different types of goals, and he had that other chance in the first half. He's just worked extremely hard. He's got a great mentality, he understood the process coming in, and he earned that start.

“He is a young man, when you score your first two goals at a new club, in a new country, I think Willie Collum made the right decision. He was very, very excited and rightly so, he has worked extremely hard to have moments like that.”

Motherwell’s game plan was immediately thrown out the window in the first-minute when Mugabi was shown a straight-red. The defender was stretching to make the tackle on Doig and nicked a touch of the ball but was wild in his follow-through and ordered off by Collum.

Things could’ve been even worse with just seven minutes played; Roberts lunged into a tackle on Drey Wright in midfield clearly catching the Hibs man – but this time a booking was the decision.

Wright continued and two minutes later forced a top-class save from Liam Kelly as his effort on the bounce flew towards the top-corner before Kelly clawed it clear.

But there was no stopping Hibs in the 15th minute as they made their numbers advantage count. Sylvester Jasper did brilliantly to find space on the right before whipping a cross for Melkersen to power home with a header from close range.

Nine minutes before the break and the duo combined again to double the lead. Jasper sent an inch-perfect pass through to Melkersen who burst into the box and rifled low past Kelly.

It seemed like game over, but the ten-man Motherwell side rallied and pulled one back. Roberts lashed goalwards from range where Joe Efford’s improvised shot off his chest caught-out the Hibs rearguard and trickled into the net.

Motherwell had the better of the second-period with Donnelly and Woolery going close with wicked efforts from the edge of the area but there was no way back to force extra-time as Hibs advanced.

Graham Alexander was left disappointed with decisions but offered a measured response as he commended his side after a difficult afternoon.

He was particularly bemused by the decision not to punish Macey after appearing to barge into Lamie in the area after collecting the ball in the second-half.

He explained: “I have no opinion on decisions. I see challenges, I see players bumping referees, manhandling them and adding anger to it and fire to the situation just like the last time we played Hibs here but nothing’s done so that’s all I can say.

“I don’t want to take the shine away from how well my players did today.

“Bevis was back in the team and wanting to do well and he’s devastated. He’s apologised to me and to his team-mates.

“Their goalkeeper might have been dealt with differently for his challenge on Ricki Lamie, which could have been a penalty but I’m dreaming, aren’t I?

“I just hear explanations about people getting warnings. But we don’t get warnings: we get dealt with straight away. We just have to take it on the chin because I like being on the touchline and I want to stay there.”