Shire boss Pat Scullion hails hat-trick hero Luke Rankin after 3-0 win over bottom club

That victory in the capital moved the Shire into 14th position in the Scottish Lowland Football League, having picked up nine points from their opening 11 outings.

"He was a real threat for us,” Scullion said. “The three goals were all pleasing, each one was a composed finish and they were all well-worked. The desire was great too from all of the attacking players to release Luke in those attacking areas.

"It was really nice for him and it was first senior hat-trick so the guys gave a round of applause for him after the game.”

On the match itself against the bottom club, he added: “There was a lot that pleased me – we had a full squad here to back the team even although we had guys out injured who could have not been here and it is things like that for me that show we are building a real team spirit.

"The attitude shown so far has been brilliant. Edinburgh University held us for a while but that was no surprise. We had them watched against Gala Fairydean Rovers and the report back was that they were unlucky to lose in that one.

"For us it was about being patient in the game and not getting frustrated. As the game progressed, I felt more and more confident that we were going to score.”

The Shire now face East of Scotland side Sauchie Juniors on Friday night in the South Challenge Cup second round.