HIBS warmed up for a crunch UEFA Cup clash with AEK Athens by hitting the goal trail at Easter Road
THE final score didn't begin to tell the story of how Alex McLeish's players took apart a hapless Dunfermline team.
While the Pars may have been suffering a crisis of confidence and, as boss Jimmy Calderwood admitted, making errors you'd rarely s
ee in the school playground, there was a ruthless menace about Hibs which ensured the Fifers crashed to a fifth-successive defeat.
The only question being asked on the final blast of referee Hugh Dallas' whistle was how come Hibs only managed to beat Pars goalkeeper Marco Ruitenbeek five times in the 90 minutes.
Had Hibs' goals tally been six, seven or eight there could have been no complaints from the visitors from across the Forth.
Calderwood insisted afterwards that every goal scored by Hibs was preventable but while that may be so, the chances still had to be taken, and suddenly the Easter Road strikers found their shooting boots.
Having seen team-mates more accustomed to defensive duties claim nine of the 11 goals scored thus far, the notable exception being the ever-improving Tam McManus, the forwards suddenly found the back of the net with ease.
Perhaps there may have been mutterings about having a player with the No.9 on his back who hadn't scored in six matches, conveniently ignoring the tremendous job Craig Brewster has done in leading the line.
But those prepared to complain found themselves choking on their own words as Brewster chipped in with the first two goals. The first ended a delightful move, Gary Smith showing immense patience as he held on to the ball until Ulises de la Cruz found space, the star from Ecuador then sweeping a low cross in from the right which Brewster expertly side-footed into the net.
Like waiting for a bus, the Hibs fans didn't have long to dally until another came along, Brewster displaying his predatory powers as he thundered home a weak clearance from Andrius Skerla, although mention should be made of the part played by the industrious John O'Neil in ensuring the Lithuanian defender didn't get a clean strike on the ball.
A wonderful piece of intuitive play by former Hibs man Stevie Crawford, letting the ball run through his legs before flicking a heel to send it beyond Nick Colgan was nothing more than a temporary diversion, McManus restoring the home side's two-goal lead on the stroke of half-time.
Thereafter it was all one-way traffic (well, even more so than the opening 45 minutes) as Hibs laid siege to the goal of Ruitenbeek, who had already ensured that a game which was already beyond Dunfermline hadn't disappeared over the horizon as he tipped a Paul Fenwick header over, palmed a Franck Sauzee thunderbolt aside and pulled off a tremendous double-block to deny first Alen Orman and then McManus.
Brewster was denied a hat-trick when the offside flag was raised as McManus cushioned a header down for him to rattle into the net, Ruitenbeek stuck out a foot to prevent De la Cruz claiming his first goal in green and white following another precision pass from Smith, but then Hibs gained further reward with yet another striker getting off the mark. Paco Luna had only been on for five minutes when Skerla failed to cut out Orman's low cross, the Spaniard lashing the ball home and, like Brewster whom he had replaced, it took him only a few minutes to double his tally, rising to nod home O'Neil's corner although questions had to be asked, and were by Calderwood, about Ruitenbeek's positioning.
Incredibly, Luna missed out on a hat-trick as he rose to power a header from David Zitelli's corner goalward, the ball crashing off the goalkeeper's legs to safety, although Ruitenbeek could hardly have known much about it.
An injury-time red card for Barry Nicholson, collecting his second yellow card for wrapping his arms around Ulrik Laursen, only compounded the Pars' misery.
Hibs: Colgan, Smith, Sauzee (Murray 74) Fenwick, Orman, De la Cruz, Jack, O'Neil, Laursen, McManus (Zitelli 63) Brewster (Luna 69).
