ARTHURLIE boss Duncan Sinclair was delighted after his side showed no mercy against his former club Larkhall Thistle, running out 7-1 winners on Saturday.

Sinclair told last week how he had hoped to capitalise on the Jags’ recent defensive woes and he was over the moon as Arthurlie bounced back from an early wobble to comprehensively thrash the visitors.

There was some unrest amongst the Dunterlie Park faithful after just 15 seconds when Sinclair’s men fell behind - the sixth time they’ve conceded inside the opening 10 minutes this season.

But there was no time for impatience with new signing Stewart Hall levelling just one minute later.

The home side edged ahead soon after with James Marks latching onto a through ball before slotting it under the keeper.

And it was all Arthurlie after that with Marks rifling it home from a David Reid cross to grab his second of the afternoon and his side’s third.

Jamie Gray netted number four from the spot 20 minutes in as Lie ran riot.

Marks looked to have secured an impressive first-half hat-trick only to miss kick at the vital moment but it fell kindly for Josh Payne who made no mistake against his former club to make it five.

Lie were relentless and almost made it six before the break with Del McNab flashing a header wide from close range as Larkhall held on.

The visitors went close after the restart as Arthurlie looked to have taken their foot off the gas.

But Payne got things back up and running with his second of the day extending the lead to six after selfless play from Marks.

Marks was again provider moments later, flicking it on for Hall whose chip sailed narrowly over before substitute Dom O’Halloran finished off the rout with a neat finish.

Sinclair described last week’s 3-2 loss against Kilsyth Rangers as ‘rank rotten’, but he was full of praise for his side this week, saying: “Offensively we were excellent. We gave away a goal after 15 seconds which wasn’t ideal, but we equalised within two minutes and then made it 3-1 after 15 minutes - and it was one way traffic after that. The boys played great and some of the football was a joy to watch.

“Losing a goal inside a minute knocked us a bit but we showed a lot of character to come back and win the way we did. 7-1 flattered Larkhall to be honest as it could have been double figures.

“We took our foot off the gas a bit in the second half. We could have had five or six more to be honest. It was a good result and a good performance with some good goals, so it was a very good weekend for us.”

Arthurlie now turn their attention to the Scottish Junior Cup where they will welcome Forres Thistle to Dunterlie Park on Saturday and Sinclair has challenged Lie to continue their impressive home form.

He said: “We’re at home in the Scottish Cup this weekend and we should be confident playing anyone at home. We’ve won our past two home games and now we want to try and make Dunterlie a bit of a fortress. We want teams to fear coming here.”