Thornton Hibs boss Craig Gilbert praises clubs' co-operation over pitch switch after beating Newburgh 6-1 to move into promotion places

Newburgh had originally been down for hosting the match, but, with their East Shore Park frozen on Saturday morning, a swift relocation to Thornton’s Memorial Park was done following lengthy pre-match consultation between the two Fife clubs.

"I think it was just forward thinking from us,” Gilbert told the Glenrothes Gazette. “We hadn’t played a game for a few weeks so I had phoned the chairman of Newburgh on the Monday just to make sure we could do everything to get the game on.

"We hadn’t played them at home or away this season so we both got our parks ready and available for a game in the event of Newburgh being off with the frost, which it was.

"Ours was ok which was fantastic. The guys had been working all week to get the park rolled and lined.

"You have to try and get games on if you can. This is the time that people lose points so if you can organise with people to keep getting games on and then win them, it’s going to be better for you.

“If we can keep guys fit and available now we have got a great chance of promotion.”

Gilbert said that Thornton’s situation was in sharp contrast to two leagues above, where Glenrothes were supposed to be playing Crossgates Primrose in a Premier Division game at Warout Stadium.

He said: "Glenrothes had a pitch inspection in the morning but had nothing arranged with Crossgates in case it didn’t pass.

"The game was called off because the goalmouths were seemingly hard. Crossgates were calling Glenrothes to try and make the switch because they – like us and Newburgh – hadn’t played each other. But Glens said ‘no’ to the switch and then asked interested teams to contact them about providing the opposition for a friendly at Lumphinnans Sports Hub between 1 and 3pm. Glens asked us to play them in any friendly but I said our game was on.”

Hibs next have a crucial league game at home to fourth-placed Dalkeith Thistle this Saturday.

"Dalkeith beat us 6-0 in the first game of the season,” Gilbert added.

"We have games in hand over them so if we can get three points on Saturday we’re going to get further away from them, establishing a bit of distance, which we’re needing to do over the next couple of months to try and keep that momentum going.”

Last weekend’s comfortable win over Newburgh saw Thornton 4-0 up at half-time thanks to Jamie McNeish’s 20-yarder on his 100th Hibs appearance, Stuart Drummond’s penalty, Nathan Laird’s 28th-minute header and John Soutar’s finish on 33 minutes.

Newburgh improved in the second half and pulled one back through Blaine Ferguson before Thornton’s Drummond had a spot kick saved, although this looked dubious as Newburgh keeper Joe Russell appeared to be well off his line when making the stop.

Garry Thomson's volley with 10 minutes left made it 5-2 for Gilbert’s team and two minutes later the same man took full advantage of slack defending to complete the scoring.

“It was a good win, a good three points,” Gilbert said. “I think we had 22 attempts at goal to their two. It could have been more goals.

"So it was a bit of a one-sided affair. Newburgh kept plugging away and kept trying to do things, they’re young, they’re energetic, credit to them, they never ever stopped.

"They actually scored a second goal but the referee never gave it. The guy hit it from 40 yards, it hit the bar and went down over the line, but the ref never saw it.”