AS supporters made their way towards the exits inside Easter Road on Saturday one man stood out from the crowd.
The stadium announcer had taken up the microphone to deliver the full-time scores, beginning with the headline: Queen of the South 1 Hearts 2.
Hibernian are not likely to overhaul their Edinburgh rivals in the SPFL Championship table but are still compelled to catch up on current affairs across the city, where Hearts continue to defend a 20-point lead following a fourth straight win. Confirmation of their latest success was answered with only cursory jeers by departing Hibs fans at the weekend, their focus instead fixed on a play-off ambition which had been burnished by a perfunctory win over Dumbarton and a return to second place. Rangers still have three games in hand but for now are being made to play catch up.
A run of just one defeat in 16 matches - a sequence which comprises two league victories over the Ibrox side - has allowed Hibs to go at their own pace in the run up to the play-offs. This will perhaps be appreciated most by striker Dominique Malonga, the 26-year-old scoring a couple of goals against Dumbarton to ease back into league action following his involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations last month.
Malonga also refused to be rushed following his substitution during the final 10 minutes on Saturday, being overtaken on his way off the pitch by Lewis Stevenson whose number was held up some 30 seconds after the striker's. "He's the slowest man ever when he's off the pitch," said Alan Stubbs, the Hibernian head coach.
What was at first understood to be a gentle quip at his player's expense might also have been intended as a warning to those journalists left idling in a corridor as they waited to speak to the striker. A three-goal win had put Malonga in a relaxed mood and he remained benign as he recounted his experience in Equatorial Guinea as part of the Congo squad at the Cup of Nations.
"The conditions were terrible but when you go to Africa everybody just says 'this is Africa'. You have to live with that," said Malonga, whose side were knocked out by DR Congo in the quarter-finals.
There were reports that Congo's team hotel did not have enough rooms to cater for the squad, while the bus broke down on the way to their final group match. "We had to wait 30 minutes and then changed bus. It was a bad bus," Malonga added.
He became more animated at the prospect of gaining promotion to the Premiership this season - "We need to go up . . . we need to go up" - twice rousing himself in the penalty area to help inflict another exacting defeat on Dumbarton. The part-time side have now conceded 13 goals in just four matches and sit five points above the relegation play-off place. Should such form continue then meetings against Livingston and Alloa Athletic next month will assume a more sinister aspect.
"Our quality with the ball was as poor as it's been this season. We could have got a real hiding," said Ian Murray, the Dumbarton manager. It is perhaps fortunate that Malonga was taking it easy.
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