HIBERNIAN boss Nick Montgomery was left purring by the displays of his January signings from Cherries after an away draw at city rivals Hearts.

Cherries loanee Emi Marcondes was on target in the Edinburgh derby which ended in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night.

Nathan Moriah-Welsh, a Cherries academy product, also started and impressed during the clash.

The link between Hibernian and Cherries was made official on Wednesday when Cherries chairman Bill Foley had a 25 per cent shareholding in Hibs ratified by shareholders.

That means that Hibs are now under the same Black Knight Football Club umbrella as Cherries, which also has French club FC Lorient and newly-formed New Zealand outfit Auckland FC in its stable.

Three players swapped the south coast of England for the Scottish capital in the last transfer window, Marcondes and Owen Bevan making temporary switches, whilst Moriah-Welsh joined Hibernian permanently.

However, injury has curtailed Bevan’s Scottish spell, the young defender now back at Cherries.

Discussing the performance of Marcondes, Montgomery started: “Emi is a top-class player, he scored his goal and had another one cleared off the line in the first half.

“For someone who had not played for eight months, to speak to him and convince him to come here, to buy into what we’re doing, we can see the fans love him, the players love him – and he’s just a top, top player.

“He’s getting fitter every week in training and in games. He took a bit of knock in his first game at Kilmarnock, that set him back a bit. But you saw again against Hearts the quality that he brings.

“He’s also a guy who brings a calmness to the team. He really links up well with the front players. He’s been fantastic for us.”

Montgomery then shared his thoughts on young midfielder Moriah-Welsh.

He continued: “Nathan is another player who came in during the window and settled really well.

“I think he covered every blade of grass at Tynecastle, won so many second balls. He was outstanding.”