Thorn Athletic picked up their third league victory of the season with a 2-0 win away to Gartcairn on Saturday.
Goals either side of half-time from Corey Pearson and Caiden Adams secured all three points for Thorn in the West of Scotland Football League First Division at MTC Park in Airdrie.
Thorn made four changes to the side beaten 1-0 by Kilsyth Rangers the previous weekend.
Tennant, MacMillan, Watson and Ryan Connelly dropped out of the starting XI, with Liam McWilliams, Mickey Wilson, Euan Clark and Shai Stephenson coming into the side.
Wilson was making his second debut for Thorn following his return to the club.
The visitors threatened in the 24th minute when Gartcairn goalkeeper Sam Ramsbottom made a save to his right.
The resulting corner was met at the back post but was blocked and went behind, before Thorn fired over following further pressure.
Thorn made the breakthrough in the 32nd minute through Pearson, who struck from the corner of the box to put his side 1-0 ahead.
Gartcairn looked for a response two minutes later when Lee Colquhoun cut the ball back and crossed into the area, but the ball went just wide.
Owen Doyle was shown a yellow card in the 42nd minute as Thorn maintained their advantage going into the interval.
Gartcairn threatened seven minutes after the restart when captain Del McNab won possession and went around the goalkeeper before cutting the ball back, but Thorn cleared the danger behind.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 55th minute through Adams.
The youngster, who is on loan from Queen’s Park, added to Pearson’s first-half goal to put Thorn 2-0 ahead.
Gartcairn made a change following the second goal, with Pearse McGarvey replacing Niall Cannon.
McNab was involved again on the hour mark when he was fouled, with Lewis Kenmore booked following the challenge.
There were no further goals as Thorn saw out the remainder of the match to secure a clean sheet and all three points.
Speaking after the match, Thorn manager Derrick McMillan said he was pleased with how his side responded following the previous weekend’s defeat.
He said: “Yeah, great start obviously with a bit of a pull up last Saturday but the boys bounced back really well.
“Gartcairn started excellently, fair play to them, but we tweaked a couple of things in game and got control of it and it was a real composed performance from the boys.”
McMillan also praised the impact of Wilson and the experience brought into the side by the players returning to the starting XI.
He said: “The reason we brought Mickey back was to give us a bit more experience.
“He’s played in 200 games like that today and he really led the team, along with Euan Clark and a couple of others that came back today, and Liam the goalie.
“It really helped the young boys go and express themselves.”
Wilson was later named Thorn’s man of the match following his second debut for the club.
The result means Thorn have won three of their opening four First Division matches. Their victories over Cambuslang Rangers and Neilston were followed by the narrow home defeat against Kilsyth Rangers before Saturday’s return to winning ways.
Attention now turns to another First Division fixture, with Thorn at home to Bonnyton Thistle on Wednesday.
McMillan said: “It’s a really tough start. I expect Gartcairn and Bonnyton to go up there and [unclear], but it’s exciting.
“These are the games I keep saying you want to play in, so we’ll recover, we’ll have a plan, we’ll work on a plan for Monday for Bonnyton. They’re a good side but we’re looking forward to it.”
Thorn remain second in the First Division following the weekend’s results, with nine points from four matches. They are one point behind leaders Lesmahagow Juniors and level on points with Bonnyton Thistle, Threave Rovers and Thorniewood United, with Thorn ahead of those three sides on goal difference. Their next league match is at home to Bonnyton Thistle at Thorn Park on Wednesday evening.
Gartcairn 0-2 Thorn Athletic
Scorers: Corey Pearson, Caiden Adams
Competition: West of Scotland Football League First Division
Venue: MTC Park, Airdrie
Date: Saturday, 8th August 2026
Gartcairn: Sam Ramsbottom, Jake Lewis, Craig Bell, Conor Duffy, Owen Doyle, Niall Cannon, Cammy Barclay, Lewis Kenmore, Del McNab (c), Scott Ferguson, Lee Colquhoun.
Subs: Fraser Walker, Pearse McGarvey, Paul Welsh, Declan Black, Jayden Casey, Cammy Dalling, Ally McInnes.
Thorn Athletic: Liam McWilliams, Mikey Moynihan, Mickey Wilson, Euan Clark, Millar, Corey Pearson, Denny, Nathan McLelland, Shai Stephenson, Caiden Adams, Lauchlan.
Subs: MacMillan, Tennant, McKenna, Davies, Cooper, Steele, Watson.
| Petershill | 3 – 4 | Thorniewood United |
| Petershill: Sugufara 60′, 82′; Nana Osafo 86′ Thorniewood United: Paul Donaghy, Ally Small, Brando, Miles Millar (all first half) |
||
| Bellshill Athletic | 1 – 1 | Blantyre Victoria |
| Bellshill Athletic: Danny Burns 50′ Blantyre Victoria: Own goal (Hogg) 3′ |
||
| Bonnyton Thistle | 5 – 1 | Cambuslang Rangers |
| Bonnyton Thistle: Jack Isherwood 54′; Aidan McGee 63′; Jordan Baird 68′; Dylan Howarth 69′; Kris Chisholm 71′ Cambuslang Rangers: Scorer unknown |
||
| Gartcairn | 0 – 2 | Thorn Athletic |
| Thorn Athletic: Corey Pearson (first half, time unknown); Caiden Adams 57′ | ||
| Lanark United | 2 – 2 | Whitletts Victoria |
| Lanark United: Scorers unknown 8′, 37′ Whitletts Victoria: Jordan Boyd (pen); TAZ |
||
| Lesmahagow Juniors | 5 – 0 | Maybole Juniors |
| Lesmahagow Juniors: Luke Barclay 8′; PJ Mcgiff 37′; Mason Kelman 57′; Luke Meikle 65′; Lewis Meikle 82′ | ||
| Neilston | 0 – 1 | Kilsyth Rangers |
| Kilsyth Rangers: Ryan Watson | ||
| Threave Rovers | 3 – 0 | Maryhill |
| Threave Rovers: Harry Officers 15′ (pen), 25′, 77′ | ||
Disclaimer: Goalscorer information and match details are compiled independently by Renfrewshire News Sport from available club updates and match coverage. These records are not official and may be updated without notice if further or official information becomes available.
| Time | Home | Away | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7pm | Blantyre Victoria | v | Lesmahagow Juniors | KG Stadium |
| 7pm | Cambuslang Rangers | v | Petershill | Somervell Park |
| 7pm | Thorn Athletic | v | Bonnyton Thistle | Thorn Park |
| 7pm | Thorniewood United | v | Lanark United | Robertson Park |
| 7.30pm | Whitletts Victoria | v | Threave Rovers | New Voluntary Park |
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lesmahagow Juniors | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 10 |
| 2 | Thorn Athletic | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 9 |
| 3 | Bonnyton Thistle | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 9 |
| 4 | Threave Rovers | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 5 | +8 | 9 |
| 5 | Thorniewood United | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 9 |
| 6 | Bellshill Athletic | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 7 |
| 7 | Kilsyth Rangers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 7 |
| 8 | Gartcairn | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 |
| 9 | Maryhill | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 6 |
| 10 | Blantyre Victoria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 |
| 11 | Whitletts Victoria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 |
| 12 | Lanark United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| 13 | Neilston | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1 |
| 14 | Cambuslang Rangers | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | -11 | 1 |
| 15 | Petershill | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 0 |
| 16 | Maybole Juniors | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 15 | -13 | 0 |