Fife derby win for Thornton Hibs over Kirkcaldy & Dysart

Thornton took to the field wearing black armbands as a mark of respect following the passing of lifelong supporter, Charlie Laing, the previous day aged 90.

And if he was looking down on Alex Penman Park then he would surely have been pleased with the way things panned out for 'his' team's first ever game against Kirkcaldy since their change of name.

The closest thing to a goal in the first-half came in the 32nd minute when Ian Shanks met Jamie McNeish's corner-kick perfectly but watched as his header smacked off the upright.

Prior to that, John Smith will probably feel that he should've given Craig Ness' team the lead with a shot that went wide of its intended target.

A five minute spell early in the second-half turned out to be the eventual difference between the sides.

In the 47th minute the home side were awarded a penalty-kick when Matthew Robertson brought down John Smith.

The former Hibs' great, Chris Ireland, took it but watched in dismay as Jordan Millar made a great save low down just inside the post.

This miss was to prove costly because three minutes later McNeish sped past two home defenders before delivering a cross that sailed into the far corner of the net to give the Hibs the lead.

Two minutes later Thornton doubled their advantage after Fergus Mackie pounced to ram the loose ball home after Dion Gear had saved Garry Thomson snr's low drive.

Both teams came close to finding the net after this but it wasn't until deep into added time that Kirkcaldy’s Ryan McEwan smashed the ball high into the net from 20 yards.

This turned out to be a case of too little too late for the home side as there was only time to re-start the game before the referee sounded the final whistle.

Thornton Hibs: Millar, Robertson, McMillan, S.Drummond, Shanks, Adam, McNeish, Thomson jnr, Ormiston, Thomson snr, Mackie. Subs: Coleman, Meldrum (T), McWatt, Doran, Galloway (T).