THOSE ardent Hibernian fans The Proclaimers famously boasted of travelling 500 miles and then 500 more to demonstrate their commitment.

A mere stroll round the block compared to the 10,000 miles that Dominique Malonga covered as a prelude to his starring role in this thrilling encounter that featured nine goals and copious entertainment.

Last week the France-born striker flew to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, then up to Khartoum to help his parents' home country beat Sudan 1-0 and reach the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 15 years. He arrived back in Edinburgh on Friday, just in time to grab a few hours' sleep before jumping on the team bus for the journey along the M8 and over the Erskine Bridge to the Bet Butler Stadium in the shadow of Dumbarton Rock.

Malonga then shook off his jet lag to fire three classy goals past Dumbarton goalkeeper Danny Rogers to highlight his worth to this fast-developing Hibs side that now has its sights fixed on winning promotion to the SPFL Premiership via the end-of-season play-offs.

"It's been a good week," the 25-year-old forward said afterwards with a smile and a large wedge of understatement. "We did a wonderful thing for the people of my country by getting Congo to the finals. This was also a great win. Dumbarton made us work very hard, especially in the second half."

That they did, although the resistance offered by the home team in the first 45 minutes was minimal. Hibs scored three goals in a seven-minute spell and even Dumbarton manager Ian Murray conceded: "In the first half it was 3-0 going on 33-0."

There was, though, an element of cruel amusement to be had from watching 38-year-old Mark McLaughlin try to match the runs of Malonga's fellow Hibs forward Jason Cummings who, at 19, is half the Dumbarton defender's age and young enough to be his son. The warhorse trailed in the colt's wake by several furlongs before being despatched towards the glue factory at half-time.

By then the visitors from Edinburgh were 3-0 up and cruising. Scott Allan raced on to an incisive Danny Handling pass to open the scoring after 23 minutes, then Malonga played a crisp one-two with Liam Craig before clipping the ball over the helpless Rogers. On the half-hour mark the talented Allan skipped past Mitch Megginson on the byeline and sent over a low cross that provided Paul Hanlon with a tap-in.

Game over? No, the fun was just beginning. At the break Murray replaced McLaughlin and Scott Travers with Kieran Macdonald and Chris Kane, and rejigged Dumbarton's formation from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2. Over the course of the next 15 minutes St Johnstone loanee Kane volleyed in a Colin Nish knock-down then Andy Graham powered home a superb header from a Mark Gilhaney cross to make it 3-2.

Cue panic among the visiting fans. Their distress was eased when Malonga blasted a strike from 30 yards that would have propelled the ball into the Firth of Clyde were it not for the net behind Rogers. His best-ever goal? "No, I have scored better," said the Hibs frontman afterwards with a straight face.

Dumbarton replied with a low 20-yard drive from Garry Fleming that made the score 4-3 with 18 minutes still to play. Hibs, though, secured the three points in the dying embers of this conflagration when substitute Sam Stanton finished off a fine passing move before Malonga completed his hat trick with an assured finish following good link-up play with Cummings.

"It is not important that I score goals, it is more important that the team wins the game," said the former Torino and Cesena forward with the calm assurance of a player who has netted nine times in his last 11 appearances.

"In the second half we saw what can happen when we let our level drop and give the other team a chance. We have to work hard every day to get closer to Rangers and Hearts. I want to see Hibs in the top league. I believe we can go up."

Malonga's contribution to his team's promotion charge will go on hold at the start of next year as he joins the Congo squad at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

He could miss up to five matches but Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs is hoping that by then Farid El Alagui will have recovered sufficiently from a ruptured Achilles tendon to take over his side's goalscoring burden.