Thornton hit for seven at Linlithgow

Maybe Thornton will wish now they hadn’t bothered as they crashed to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Tommy Coyne put the home side ahead in the 11th minute and then in the 28th minute former Raith man, Colin Leiper, headed the second.

Matthew Clark made two great saves from Coyne but the Rose striker wasn’t to be denied and he finally made it three in the 39th minute.

Early in the second-half, Clark pulled off another couple of top drawer saves but he was powerless to prevent Lewis Small scoring the fourth from close range in the 55th minute.

Coyne completed his hat-trick three minutes later before Raymond Crichton netted a consolation strike with seven minutes remaining.

Two late strikes from Jamie McKenzie and Robbie McNab completed the scoring on a day the men in green will want to erase from the memory banks in a hurry.

GI Joinery Hibs’ Man of the Match – Dean McMillan

Linlithgow Rose: Hill, Thom, Swann, Beaumont, Mackenzie, Leiper, Kelly, Batchelor, Coyne, Small, Gray. Subs: Kelbie, Davidson, McNab, Muhsin, Barnard.

Thornton Hibs: Clark, M.Robertson, McMillan, Drummond, Shields, McGowan, Keatings, Hepburn, Ireland, Thomson, McNab. Subs: Crichton, Coleman, Burns, Linton.

Referee: Mr B.Cooper