A HAT-TRICK from former Scotland international David Goodwillie proved the difference as Ardeer Thistle missed out in a nine-goal thriller at the weekend.

Thistle were beaten 5-4 by Glasgow United - a result which saw Sean Kenney's men drop two places to 13th in the Third Division standings.

Kenney's side fell behind early on when Cha Henderson scored after seven minutes of the West of Scotland Football League Division Three clash.

The league's top scorer Goodwillie then notched his first of the afternoon on 15 minutes.

Greg Kean then halved the deficit from the penalty spot before Goodwillie scored a penalty of his own to make the score 3-1 at half-time.

When the former Dundee United striker scored his second from 12-yards, completing his hat-trick, it looked like it may be an afternoon to forget before Ryan Singleton brought the score back to 4-2.

An own goal then brought the home side within touching distance before Shvan Nuri restored Glasgow United's two goal lead.

A Jack Gibbons goal made for a thrilling conclusion but unfortunately for Ardeer it was not to be.

But Kenney said afterwards there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game - as well as a lot of food for thought.

He told the club's social media team: “I thought our performance was very good. I thought from the start we were excellent.

“We’ve scored four but we should have scored a lot more than that. They’re clinical, we know they’ve got quality up top.

“We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to set higher standards for ourselves.

"We’ve got to be that wee bit more ruthless at one end and more ruthless at the other as well – that’s as a team.”

But he said Thistle will not be using the performance as a hard luck story - instead looking to make continued improvements after another strong showing.

Kenney added: "There’s a lot that I’m proud of.

“It was a really good performance - really good dig, really good attitude, some right good quality, but we won’t be feeling sorry for ourselves.

“We were so close. Close isn’t good enough but I can’t fault the boys for the effort.

“I’m frustrated and gutted but we will keep working hard. I have 100 per cent faith in the boys.”