Bridge of Don Thistle moved level on points with Banks o’ Dee at the top of the McBookie.com Superleague with a comfortable victory over Hall Russell United at Aberdeen Sports Village.
The Jags went in front inside the opening quarter of an hour when an excellently taken free-kick from Craig McKeown wrong-footed United’s keeper and nestled in the back of the net.
Thistle doubled their advantage when a fierce Nicky Gordon strike crashed off the underside of the bar.
Any debate as to whether the ball was over the line was ended when David Booth reacted first to fire into the net.
That was how it stood at the break.
Gordon added a third in the second half with a good run and fine finish, and the scoring was complete when James Bain forced the ball over the line following a Gordon header.
Dolan still looking for more from Thistle
Jags boss Steve Dolan was pleased with his side’s performance, but insists there is still room for improvement.
He said: “The first half was good, but we maybe took our foot off the pedal after the interval and it was a bit scrappy at times.
“They’ve got to keep the levels up for the 90 minutes and that was impressed on them at half-time and at the end of the game. We’ve got to try to keep improving.
“It’s another clean sheet and defensively we’ve been very steady recently with a fairly consistent line-up at the back.
“But we defend as a team, so everyone deserves a bit of credit and we’ve cut out the silly goals we were losing.”
Dolan was also pleased to get some minutes into key players who have been out recently.
He said: “That was one of the most pleasing things about the game.
“David Booth, who had a leg injury, played the first 45 and got his goal, Bradley Deans got an hour and we had Sam Muirhead back, who has also been missing in recent weeks.”
Focus switches to cup
Next up for Thistle is the home League Cup quarter-final clash with Hermes at the weekend and it’s one that the manager is looking forward to.
Dolan said: “There are no easy games, but this one is the kind of game we should all be relishing and I’m sure Hermes will feel exactly the same.
“With the amount of games they have in hand, Banks o’ Dee look like retaining their Superleague title, and they show no sign of slipping up, so the cups take on extra significance.
“It’ll probably come down to who turns up on the day, so everyone needs to be at it come Saturday and hopefully we’ll get the outcome we want.”