Scottish football's longest serving manager Craig Gilbert recounts classic tale about scoring a hat-trick but then being dropped for next game!

Gilbert, Scottish football’s longest serving manager, previously served Thornton for a total of nine years as a central defender across two playing spells before becoming the club’s gaffer in summer 2008.

He told the Fife Free Press: "Stuart Drummond is doing very well with the amount of goals he’s scoring for us but he takes our penalties right enough. I don’t remember seeing a centre-half scoring as many goals as that during such a short time period during all my years in football.

"All I can remember is when I played for Thornton I scored a hat-trick against Lochgelly in a home league game (in January 1999) but then got dropped by the manager Archie Wise for our away match the next week against Glenrothes at Warout Stadium. That’s my claim to fame.

"I played centre-half during my career but the day I scored the hat-trick I was playing up front instead.

"But then I was on the bench for the Glens game as we had just signed Mark Gallagher, a new forward, and Archie wanted to see what he was like.

"Mark was a really good player but it was a blow getting dropped after scoring the only hat-trick of my career. I didn’t understand the manager’s decision, how can a guy score a hat-trick and then get dropped the next week?

"Gallagher then ended up being sent off in the Glenrothes game for some back chat to the referee. I think he was a bit of a hothead.”

Gilbert was speaking in the wake of his side winning 3-1 after extra time at Harthill Royal in the King Cup 1st Round last Saturday thanks to goals by John Soutar, Robbie Westwaters and a Drummond penalty.

"The boys played very well in the first half," Gilbert said. "We really should have put the game to bed, then we had a horrible second half and they came back into it, scoring an equaliser to take it to extra time. It was a Jekyll and Hyde performance but then we were good in the first half of extra time.”

On his team’s return to East of Scotland League second division action at home to Edinburgh South this Saturday, kick-off 2.30pm, Gilbert has summed up the size of the occasion.

The boss, whose team currently sit third with 35 points from 15 matches after winning their last six while scoring 30 goals and conceding six, said: “It’s the biggest game of the season coming up. Edinburgh South have only lost two games in the league this season, but we’re confident at home.

"We’re scoring a lot of goals and they are being spread out among guys like Garry Thomson, Andy McCallion, Robbie Westwaters and John Soutar.”