Last week it was alleged that Edinburgh had hammered another nail into the Hibs' relegation coffin. This week Thornton eased the coffin lid off a wee bit with a 'Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated' attitude.

The Hibs came flying out the traps and might've been awarded a penalty in the first minute when Chris Ireland was felled in the area but instead, to the consternation of the visitors, the ref awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box. This decision didn't knock Thornton out of their stride and they deservedly took the lead in 27th minute when Lea Schiavone cleverly finished off Ireland's pass.

Ireland scored the second after he mugged an Oakley defender 40 yards from goal then ran unchallenged before sliding the ball behind the advancing Ryan Adamson.

It had been near enough 'All Hibs' in the first-half but Oakley staged a fightback after the interval and will feel hard done by when Mike Fleming's fierce strike from distance struck the underside of the crossbar and looked to have crossed the line but to be fair to the ref, he didn't have an Azerbaijan linesman to assist him on this occasion.

To cap Oakley's day of misery, Reece Fraser was red-carded two minutes from the end for speaking out of turn.
 
This was Thornton's first league win since September and also their first clean sheet in the league this season. Too little too late? Not if they can turn in gutsy performances like this every week.

Strathore Plant Hire Hibs' Man of the Match – Jimmy Shields

Oakley United: Adamson, Fleming, Breen, McGowan, Brown, Allan, Reid, McDonough, Chitemere, Murray, Carruthers. Subs: Fraser, Watt, Devaney, Ward, Powrie.

Referee: Mr J.Bell