Whitburn 2-0 Thornton Hibs

Hibs started well enough with Andy Wilson making an excellent save to prevent Daniel McNab from hitting a second-minute opener.

In the 35th minute a terrific free-kick from Garry Thomson came back off the face of the bar and a minute later Ross Gunn was red carded for a tackle that was too robust for the referee’s liking.

Another superb free-kick from Thomson struck the post two minutes later and at this stage it looked just a matter of time before Hibs would take the lead.

Right on half-time, however, the home side broke the deadlock thanks to a fierce strike from Gary Brass after he was well set up by Reece Duncan and this had the effect of being a real game-changer.

Both sides had plenty of possession in the second half but in the words of one Hibs’ supporter, Craig Gilbert’s side appeared to be rudderless and Wilson was rarely troubled.

Duncan came close to extending Whitburn’s lead with a great strike from 15 yards that slammed off the bar but with just a couple of minutes remaining Darren Liddell sealed victory with a close in shot when he got on the end of Greg Nicol’s low cross.

Thornton Hibs: Warrender, Robertson, A.Drummond, S.Drummond, Millar, Orrock, Keatings, Hepburn, Anthony, Thomson, McNab. Subs: Shanks, Crichton, Ireland, Coleman, Adam.

Referee: Mr D.Graves.

This Saturday Hibs are home to Downfield.