THIS was not the cakewalk Hibernian may have hoped for but in a week when a fast-food altercation made the headlines it was perhaps fitting they made something of a meal of stretching their lead in second place to four points over Rangers.

Jason Cummings has apparently been banned from fast-food chain McDonald's following an alleged food fight involving muffins and head coach Alan Stubbs has since issued a warning to his players over their professionalism. He may have been stressing their off-field conduct but, with Rangers drawing with Falkirk the previous evening, they proved their on-field competence when short of their best by earning another three points thanks to Scott Allan's 26th-minute free-kick.

"If you look at other results here this season, it's not an easy place to come to," said Hibs head coach Alan Stubbs afterwards. "I don't think there's been any big score-lines either, which tells you everything about the place and today was all about us getting three points and capitalising on Friday night's result.

"To be fair to the lads, it wasn't necessarily our best performance but it was one of the most pivotal because we got the three points."

Hibs' visit to the same stadium back in August could be viewed as their nadir in a season that has steadily improved since. A 2-1 defeat to their part-time hosts and a serious Achilles tendon injury sustained by summer signing Farid El Alagui helped give the Easter Road side food for thought on life in the Championship.

They reversed that score on their return to Alloa in the Scottish Cup three months later, but again the sojourn was not without its difficulties, as striker Dominique Malonga was red-carded for an off-the-ball incident.

Malonga was substituted in the 56th minute to give Cummings a shot at redemption for his recent unsavoury headlines but the teenager could not help Hibs ease the late nerves as they failed to find the second goal their play should have earned.

The Easter Road side's winner came, ironically, after Alloa had ratcheted up the pressure on their visitors with four corners in quick succession. Having displayed the defensive fortitude sorely missing at the outset of the campaign, Hibs broke rapidly from the final set-piece and earned one of their own when Fraser Fyvie was felled 25 yards from goal. Allan made the goal look easily as he wrapped his foot around the dead ball and curled it past the wall and beyond the fingertips of keeper Craig McDowall.

"That's what he does," added Stubbs. "When he does produce that bit of quality, more often than not he's the one that can open up defences and be the difference between winning and losing."

The strike only served to lift Allan's burgeoning confidence up a notch or two and the Hibs midfield clicked into gear for a spell thereafter, with Allan, Fyvie and Dylan McGeouch finding more pockets of space. McGeouch tested McDowall with a drive and only a heavy touch from Fyvie denied him a clear sight of goal eight yards out as he attempted to latch on to a beautiful McGeouch diagonal.

Yet, for all their domination of possession and pretty patterns in the middle third of the pitch, the capital outfit could not find the second goal they craved and it was the hosts who almost grabbed an equaliser four minutes from the break. On-loan Dundee striker Phil Roberts did not have much to work with on the left apex of the box but squeezed a shot through a forest of legs to bring out a superb diving save from Mark Oxley.

The second-half was almost a repeat of the first, with Alloa content to allow Hibs possession, which they enjoyed for long spells, but without endangering the home goal on too many occasions. Some brave defending from Alloa denied Malonga and Fyvie what looked like certain goals with last-ditch blocks and substitute Martin Boyle, who had earlier seen a volley saved by McDowall's outstretched leg, inexplicably screwed horribly wide when played in on goal by Cummings as the visitors were denied some late breathing space.

"Hibs had to work hard to get the three points," said Alloa manager Barry Smith. "From our point of view, the difference today was we didn't use the ball as well as we normally do. We normally create more chances and keep the ball better, and that was disappointing."

Man of the match: Scott Allan. Guilty of overdoing it at times but still the pivot to Hibs' attack.

Alloa: McDowall; Doyle, Gordon, Marr, Meggatt (Spence 75); McCord, Holmes, Cawley, Docherty; Roberts (Rutherford 86), Layne (Buchanan 52). Subs not used: Gibson, Tiffoney, Hetherington, Flannigan.

Hibernian: Oxley; Gray, Watson, Hanlon, Stevenson; McGeouch, Robertson, Allan, Fyvie (Craig 86); Malonga (Cummings 55), Dja Djedje (Boyle 67). Subs not used: Cerny, Fontaine, Handling, Dunsmore.

Referee: J. McKendrick.