The sun may have been shining on Kirkcaldy but it was David Goodwillie who lit up Stark’s Park as Dundee United swept aside Raith Rovers.
The striker, who cut his teeth with John McGlynn’s side, blew his former team-mates away with a fantastic first-half display which saw him grab two goals and set up a third.
But while Peter Houston will have left Kirkcaldy a delighted man, the opposite would be said of his Raith Rovers counterpart who will feel that his squad still have someway to go before they find their groove.
Despite the heavy loss, Raith boss McGlynn remained upbeat, saying, “It hurts to lose 5-0 and we got a real lesson in finishing tonight.
“But I don’t think we played too badly and Grant (Murray) and Laurie (Ellis) won’t come up against that level of opposition every week.”
United boss Houston appeared pleased with a job well done, praising his men by saying, “I said to the boys at half-time that it was like chalk and cheese from our last game (a 1-1 draw with Glentoran).
“They really worked their socks off.”
Goodwillie’s masterclass took just nine minutes to get under way. Teasing the Rovers backline with his pace, the young forward created just enough space to fire a low shot across the face of Andy McNeill’s goal and into the corner of the net.
His striker partner Danny Cadamarteri also looked lively but while his shooting boots were absent in the opening 45, Goodwillie was keen for more and he grabbed his second 15 minutes later with almost an exact replica of his opener.
By now the Scottish Cup holders looked rampant, with even the hard-edged tackles of Rovers’ Iain Davidson and Craig Wilson doing little to halt the visitors’ progress.
For the third goal Goodwillie turned supplier, his cross from the left finding David Robertson, who volleyed home beautifully from 10 yards.
Rovers did create chances with both Stephen Simmons and Jamie Mole having good opportunities to at least test Dusan Pernis in the United goal. However the hosts appeared to be suffering from nerves in front of goal and never really looked like finding the net.
Sensing the fragility of the Raith defence, United grabbed a fourth immediately after the restart, Prince Bauben heading home from close range, and it wasn’t until McGlynn introduced Gregory Tade and Graham Weir that the home team even began to show any signs of a spark.
Indeed, Raith’s best chance of the match fell to Weir in the 75th minute, but his fierce shot came back off the woodwork.
By now both sides seemed happy to run down the clock, with the exception of United’s Sean Dillon, however, who struck a beautiful 25-yard shot past McNeil to complete the rout with minutes to go.