Fife Thistle simply too much to Swallow

After a narrow 4-3 victory in the first leg, Thistle went into this second2nd leg of the Glenfield Autocentre Cup looking for an improved performance and they certainly got it

A scintillating first half performance saw the tie killed off by the break.

In only the second minute Allan who gave Nee in the Swallows goal no chance with his finish.

Allan then turned provider in the 16th minute when crossed for Whatmore who was on hand to fire home.

Just over a minute later and it was 3-0 when Bell sent in a terrific ball where Allan showed tremendous technique to shift the ball to his stronger foot before rifling home on the half volley for his 8th goal of the season.

Despite their excellent work rate the Swallows were struggling to get out their own half as Thistle moved the ball around with speed and in the 28th minute a driving run from Whatmore took him through on goal only for Nee to block his effort however Barnes was on hand to fire home the rebound.

On the half hour it was 5-0 when Thistle skipper Carson marked his return from injury as he headed home a Finlay corner for his 3rd of the season.

But for the efforts of Nee Thistle would have further stretched their lead before the break when firstly he produced a stunning stop from a Barnes pile driver then produced an even better double save to deny Nicolson then Allan.

Thistle made 4 changes at the break but that did not stop them making it 6-0 within a minute of the restart as Ronnie Barnes grabbed his 100th goal for the club as he fired home a Nicolson pass to join Jimmy Murray, Mark Gorgon and Shane Nicol in scoring 100+ goals for the club.

Despite the scoreline St. Monans were showing some grit and Wortley had to be on his toes to save a low drive from Robertson twice in the space of 2 minutes.

In the 53rd minute Thistle however were back in the goals when Finlay and Tulleth combined well before the latter finished with his usual aplomb for his 6th of the season.

Tulleth turned provider in the 66th minute when his free kick was headed home by Leadbetter for a 1st Thistle goal from the big defender then just a few minutes later Tulleth and Fox worked to great effect before the latter showed great footwork to send the defence spinning and slot home to make it 9-0.

Some tremendous skill from Tulleth looked like it was going to make it double figures when his trickery saw him waltz through the defence before trying an audacious chip which beat the keeper but came back off the crossbar.

Despite the scoreline the final 10 minutes of the game belonged to St. Monans. Firstly the

impressive Christie forced a great save from Wortley at full stretch then in the 85th minute they grabbed a consolation goal when Moodie collected a great through ball and despite looking offside he closed in on goal and slotted past the advancing Wortley.

In the end despite letting standards drop late on it was an impressive performance from Thistle who stretched the unbeaten run to 10 games and secured a two-legged quarter final versus Hearts of Beath.

LM Joinery Man of the Match – Scott Finlay

Team – Sam Anderson (Ross Wortley 46), Gary Spence, Calum McColm (Jake McCabe 46), Arron Leadbetter, James Bell, Sean Allan (Sam Walker 46), Liam Carson (Kieran Fox 46), Scott Finlay, Davy Whatmore, Ronnie Barnes (Alan Tulleth 50), Scott Nicolson

Tomorrow (Saturday) Thistle play host to Hearts of Beath in the 1st leg of the Glenfield Autocentre Cup quarter final with a 2pm kick off then on Tuesday evening travel to face league leaders Lochgelly United with a 6.45pm kick off.