STIFFER tests of their resolve are yet to come but in terms of generating the necessary self-belief ahead of the play-offs and sending out the right messages to opponents it was vital that Hibernian took this chance to avoid a round of matches.

Doing it in such style was merely an added bonus.

The benefit of resting while play-off semi-final rivals Rangers and Queen of the South are maintaining match sharpness is moot, of course, while in terms of questioning of Hibs' character their manager Alan Stubbs had, both before and after this match observed that no-one was questioning his team's "bottle" when they embarked on a run which saw them lose just once in 27 matches earlier in the season.

Yet he is a bright fellow, so is surely being a wee bit disingenuous since that is the very point being made by critical on-lookers and nervous well-wishers alike.

Hibs could have pretty much wrapped up this second spot weeks ago, only to see a 15 match unbeaten run end when losing to a Rangers team they had previously dominated this season and when they then embarked on a run which included four defeats in six matches, the last of those a Scottish Cup semi-final to yesterday's opponents, it was valid to wonder whether Stubbs' new-look Hibs were suffering from age-old problems.

Yet, as their manager has missed no opportunity to point out, they genuinely did play well at Hampden that day and have responded well to the cup disappointment with three successive victories to overhaul a once again stuttering Rangers, culminating in this ultimately a comfortable one.

Yesterday's messages inside their dressing room had been the right ones, but more importantly they played accordingly.

"They are young, very intelligent and they will get better," said Stubbs.

"When you've got good players you are confident. More importantly I trust them to the hilt; I trust them to get on the ball, take it in difficult circumstances.

"I was excited before the game, I wasn't nervous and I said that to the players.

"You can only get that when you have good players."

The club captain fully backed that up.

"I never had any doubts," said Liam Craig, whose work-rate and communication offered a strong on-field lead.

"It's not a case of disrespecting Falkirk. We've just got great belief and we've played well against Falkirk, even in the cup game a couple of weeks ago.

"We knew we'd create chances against them, though. We did that and we put three of them away."

That they did and the first was probably the pick of them as Dundee loanee Martin Boyle rewarded Stubbs for his January negotiations when he and Alex Harris swapped clubs.

The pacy winger collected the ball in his own half and drove deep into Falkirk terrain down the right before exchanging passes with the ever excellent Scott Allan whose perfectly weighted return let Boyle take the ball in stride before drilling it low across Jamie MacDonald.

Hibs had their moments thereafter, not least in dealing with cross balls which Peter Houston, Falkirk's manager, had identified as their Achilles heel after the cup semi, but they were dominant and registered a second well crafted and taken goal five minutes before the interval.

Lewis Stevenson sparked the move, releasing Allan down the left who, on looking up, had options with both strikers running into space against a retreating defence and chose to pick out the league's top scorer. Jason Cummings then showed his finisher's instinct once more when beating Peter Grant while trapping the ball, before shifting it to his left to wrong foot MacDonald so that he could virtually walk the ball in.

As Craig noted, discovering that Rangers were also two ahead at half-time could have been unsettling. Instead they largely controlled the second half before making things completely secure when, with Falkirk again caught with men committed after they had won a rare corner, the speed of the counter meant Cummings could lift the ball over the last defender into the path of Dominique Malonga who showed impressive composure in steadying himself as he reached the penalty area before slotting the ball right footed past MacDonald.

After the way they lost in the play-offs to Hamilton last year the questions will, of course, persist until they are confirmed as having regained Premiership status as the Falkirk manager Houston pointed out.

"Hibs are the best football team in the play-offs but it is not just down to that," he observed when, his side having finished just outside then play-off places, he was asked for his tip.

"It will come down to bottle and who can handle it better.

"Rangers have a big, club mentality and have the players to cope, but football wise I would say Hibs."

Even so they have earned the right to spend two and a half weeks preparing their own way and trying to ensure they are physically right, albeit in Jordon Forster's case, that may prove difficult given the pain he appeared to be in before being stretchered away after suffering a first half ankle injury.

Falkirk (4-2-3-1): J MacDonald, K Duffie, D McCracken, P Grant, L Dick, W Vaulks, M Kerr, T Taiwo, B Alston, C Sibbald, J Baird

Hibs (3-5-2): M Oxley, J Forster, P Hanlon, L Fontaine, M Boyle, S Robertson, L Craig, S Allan, L Stevenson, D Malonga, J Cummings

Goals: Boyle, Cummings, Malonga

Man of the Match: Cummings

Referee: D Robertson

Attendance: 7672