Arbroath 1 PARS 5, SPFL Trust Trophy, round four

FIVE-STAR Athletic cruised into the last eight of the SPFL Trust Trophy by sweeping aside Championship Arbroath last night.

Four first half goals - one each from Kyle MacDonald and skipper Kyle Benedictus, and a brace from Matty Todd - put James McPake's side in command at Gayfield.

Former Lichties loanee, Craig Wighton, netted a fifth in the second half and, although Thomas O'Brien pulled one back, it was mere consolation for Dick Campbell's hosts.

Manager McPake said afterwards that he felt it was the best performance of the season so far for the League One leaders, who will resume their bid to bounce back to the second tier at Airdrieonians next Saturday.

"Overall yes," he said when asked if it was the finest display of his tenure so far.

"I think that there have been spells in games that have been different. The one down at Falkirk (a 1-0 win last month) was a very good tactical performance in terms of how we kept areas tight as a team. We showed them into areas where we wanted to but in terms of the way we moved the ball and we continued to do it, yeah.

"They were ruthless with getting the five goals and we possibly could have had more.

"Winning games is the be all and end all but it is performances that win you games I believe and the way they came out in the first half, the way they moved the ball about, the way they had the bravery to take the ball. Joe Chalmers and Chris Hamilton taking it in those areas, the centre backs willing to take risks which we have been asking them to do.

"Some of the goals that we scored tonight were excellent so it was a very good performance."

The Pars made three changes to the team that started the weekend draw at home to Queen of the South.

Cup-tied pair Chris Mochrie and Kane Ritchie-Hosler, who played in this season's competition previously for parent clubs Dundee United and Rangers, missed out, as did fellow loanee, Robbie Mahon, from Motherwell, for the same reason.

Aaron Comrie was named amongst the substitutes, with MacDonald, Chris Hamilton and Nikolay Todorov, who scored the equaliser against the Doonhamers, coming in.

Former Athletic boss, Dick Campbell, made six changes to his starting line-up, including in goal, which saw another ex-Par, Cammy Gill, start in place of Derek Gaston.

And, after a bright start, it was one of the trio brought into the Dunfermline side that gave them the perfect start.

A free-flowing Pars attack, which began inside their own half, saw them advance upfield, with Wighton flicking a lovely pass with the outside of his boot to Todorov.

The Bulgarian striker passed it on to Todd, who laid it on a plate across the face of the six-yard area for MacDonald to confidently sweep home.

Joe Chalmers, who once more had an excellent match in midfield, was unlucky with an effort that ended off-target but, from an Arbroath attack, Dunfermline made it two midway inside the opening period.

Deniz Mehmet had made a good save from Deri Corfe's volley but, from the resultant corner, the Pars regained possession.

Wighton, first time, sent it forward to Todd with the outside of his boot, allowing the midfielder to race away from just inside his own half and slot confidently beyond Gill at his near post from 12 yards.

The travelling support had barely finished celebrating their team's second when they had another to cheer just three minutes later.

Benedictus, lurking at the back post, found himself on the end of a Chalmers corner and, via a deflection, fired home for his fourth goal of the season.

This was impressive stuff from the Pars, and after Todd was played through on goal but couldn't quite generate the power in his shot to add a fourth, he did so seven minutes from the break, looping a fine header from MacDonald's cross into the net.

With the game won, the Pars set about managing the contest after the break, although MacDonald shot just over after cutting in on his left after good combination play between Chalmers and Wighton to find him.

A fifth goal, however, did arrive, and it was one Wighton deserved for an excellent all-round display.

Chalmers floated a lovely ball forward for Todd, who moved inside and passed it to Wighton, who curled a lovely finish into the top corner from around 18 yards.

Although they couldn't keep hold of a clean sheet, as O'Brien lashed in a fine far-post volley from a corner, it was a job extremely well done by McPake's men as they advanced to the last eight.

Arbroath: Gill, Oakley, Hamilton, Little, O'Brien, Gold, Hoti, Fosu, Corfe, Shanks, Isiaka.

Subs: McKenna, Hilson, Jacobs, Linn, Stewart, Gaston.

Goal: O'Brien (74).

Pars: Mehmet, Benedictus, Breen, Fisher, MacDonald, Chalmers, Hamilton, Todd, Edwards, Wighton, Todorov.

Subs: Young, Comrie, Rennie, Beagley, Tod, Sutherland, Little.

Goals: MacDonald (6), Todd (21, 38), Benedictus (24), Wighton (68).

Referee: Chris Graham.