As Hearts sailed through the first quarter of the SPFL Championship season, there had been one small oversight which blighted an otherwise perfect record:
two dropped points at Dumbarton. They could therefore have found no better way of rectifying matters than by registering their supporters' favourite scoreline ahead of next weekend's Edinburgh derby.
It could hardly have been more painful for Dumbarton manager Ian Murray, the erstwhile Hibernian player whose side had done substantially better at his old stomping ground a week earlier, but who, unsurprisingly, became the target for gesticulating home supporters after Hearts' last goal went in.
By contrast, while he felt slightly hard done by with the fourth and fifth goals, believing that one of his players had been fouled ahead of each, Murray was a model of generosity in his analysis, offering no complaint about the outcome or even the margin in spite of those specific concerns.
"I've absolutely no arguments with the result," he said. "You can't argue with the league table. They're nine points clear and they've scored another five goals at home, it's as simple as that. Anybody who tries to say Hearts are not the best team in the league at this moment is wrong. I said to the guys we're not the first team to come here and lose that many goals and we won't be the last."
Stevie Crawford, Hearts' assistant head coach, meanwhile registered satisfaction at having proved they have the beating of every team in the competition, albeit there will be no opportunity for relaxation, not least with Hibs up next.
"The pleasing thing is we're 10 games into the season and we've taken three points off every team, but we're not getting carried away. We're in tomorrow for our recovery and then we'll focus on the game next week," he said.
The match began with a flurry of activity around the Dumbarton penalty area, Hearts creating several half chances, but just as Dumbarton were beginning to get a foothold in the game Osman Sow, who had spurned a couple of early chances, registered the overdue opener, meeting a cross from deep on the right, delivered by the lively Callum Paterson, squarely with his head at the far post. The visitors responded well and had a string of decent attempts, the best of them seeing Colin Nish's close-range volley draw a fine diving save from Neil Alexander, but when Hearts claimed a second it was no more than their superiority merited.
Sow was the instigator of the move, breaking from the edge of his own box and showing strength to carry it to halfway before feeding Sam Nicholson on the left touchline and his early ball was put into the perfect spot for Billy King to run on to. He was bundled over by Scott Linton as the defender turned, but the foul almost went unpunished as Prince Buaben hit his penalty attempt much too close to Danny Rogers, only for the ball to spin cruelly off and over the goalkeeper.
The afternoon became even more comfortable for the majority of those whose presence contributed to another bumper 15,522 attendance when Jason Holt, who had come on at the interval because Sow had strained a hamstring, was allowed to carry the ball to the edge of the Dumbarton box on the right where he still had room to wind up a shot which flew past Rogers into the opposite corner.
Even when a well-worked Dumbarton corner from the left saw Nish head the ball back across goal to allow Garry Fleming to volley home, there was no sense of alarm for the league leaders and any lingering concern was extinguished when the excellent Paterson rose at the back post to meet a corner from the left and nod home before King wrapped things up with a drive that gave Rogers no chance.
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