THORN Athletic recorded an impressive win against Glasgow University on Saturday after an enforced month-long hiatus from Caledonian Premier League action due to cup commitments and unplayable pitches.

An Ian Paterson goal was sandwiched in between a Jordan Verracchia brace to put Thorn 3-0 up going into the second half.

All three goals were scored in an eight-minute spell and appeared to dishearten Glasgow University, who never really looked like fashioning a route back into the game.

Muir McCluskey rounded off the scoring as he made it 4-0 with 12 minutes played in the second half after latching onto a pass from John Martin, who grabbed his second assist of the game and helped propel his side up to third place in the table.

Thorn Athletic manager Johnny McEwan was relieved to get some league points on the board.

He said: "We were excellent in the first half and put the game to bed pretty quickly after getting the breakthrough.

"We missed a few good chances early on and it made you wonder if it was going to be our day but, when we got our noses in front, we kicked on.

"We got a lot of joy down the left-hand side in the first half through John Martin and that led to a couple of goals.

"Second half, we huffed and puffed a bit, which meant we only added another one to the tally, but it was good to get back to winning ways in the league.

"What was equally pleasing for us was to keep a clean sheet. The defence have been playing well."

Thorn have an away trip to face Cambria this Saturday and aim to make it three league wins in a row, although McEwan expects a tough encounter against a team that will be eager to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat to Glasgow Harp.

He added: "We need to get a bit of momentum going again, especially ahead of our Scottish Cup fourth round tie the week after.

"Cambria are dangerous opposition but, if we can keep our levels up, then we can get another good result. Cambria also had a free week last week, so they will be fresh.

"We have Dean Scott available again after suspension and a few of the injuries are starting to clear up, so fingers crossed."