And they only needed five minutes to get off the mark when reacted quickest to turn the ball home after a Glenn Ferguson volley came back off an upright.

But Ferguson only had to wait until the 22nd minute to get his name on the scoresheet when he fired past David Wilton after Winkie Murphy knocked on a Stephen Douglas free-kick.

The Blues extended their advantage five minutes from the interval with Thompson's second of the game after he stabbed the ball home when a Douglas effort was pushed out by the 19-year-old keeper.

To make a bad worse the Whites were then reduced to ten men right on the strike of half-time with Conor Hagan's dismissal for kicking out at Jamie Mulgrew.