Fife Thistle 1-3 Strathmiglo United

It was Thistle who started brightly and Mikey Smith came close early when he latched onto a Kris Low ball then shortly after Ross Cameron and John Moir combined well to release Ronnie Barnes but the striker saw his effort well saved by Christie.

Despite the bright start, there was little quality on show from Thistle with possession being given away cheaply.

Just after the half hour they were punished when United scored from their first chance on target when Moffat took advantage of the space allowed to him to head home a deflected cross.

Thistle almost responded immediately when Low collected a Moir ball before rifling in an effort that beat Christie only for the ball to strike the crossbar.

Jamie Malone put Greig Barrie through on goal with a neat through ball however with time to spare the striker pulled his shot well wide of target.

On the stroke of half time Thistle conceded a second goal when a clumsy challenge from Michael Badu resulted in a penalty which Moffat converted sending Henderson the wrong way.

Thistle needed to come out the traps flying in the second half however any hopes of a comeback were all but killed off just two minutes after the restart when United made it 3-0. A corner was misjudged by Henderson with the ball eventually finding McAndrew who fired home from close range.

Thistle rung the changes shortly after with the introduction of John Provan, Sean Allan and Duncan Donald adding a bit of fight to the side as Thistle finally began to take a grip on the game and only a good save from Christie prevented Carson from reducing the deficit.

The United keeper was enjoying a fine match and produced a good stop to deny Provan one on one then he produced a better stop to deny Allan.

Allan and Provan were linking well together and the two combined well just after the hour with Provan hitting the bar with a header from close range but despite the pressure it took until the 85th minute for Thistle to pull a goal back when Carson knocked on a Provan ball and Donald was well placed to head the ball over the keeper.

It proved only a consolation goal for the Balmullo side though.

Alba Mortgage Solutions man of the match:Jamie Malone.

Thistle: Henderson (Anderson 60), Malone, Badu, Carson, McLuckie, Smith (Donald 55), Low, Moir (Provan 55), Cameron (Kerr 67), Barrie (Allan 55), Barnes.

On Saturday Thistle face St Andrews University in round three of the North Road Garage Fife Cup with a 2pm kick off at Balmullo.