Dom Thomas fired in a stunning hat-trick as Dumbarton came out on top in a seven goal thriller against East Fife at Bayview on Saturday.

Calum Gallagher also scored for the Sons who were three goals to the good at the break.

Neither side created anything of note in the opening stages with both goalkeepers having very little to do as Anton Dowds and Thomas both missed the target.

Kilmarnock loanee Thomas made no mistake with his next chance, however, as he handed Jim Duffy’s side the lead on the 20 minute mark.

Gallacher flicked on a long ball forward into the path of Thomas who steadied himself before volleying into the net from distance.

He then looked to turn provider as he picked out Ross Forbes at the back-post with the Dumbarton skipper’s shot flying narrowly over the bar.

The roles of Thomas and Gallagher were reversed on 36 minutes with the former smartly picking out the latter before he clinically finished to double the visiting side’s advantage.

On the stroke of half-time Sons added a third as Thomas again fired in a stunning strike from a tight angle and into the far corner.

Read more: Dumbarton boss Jim Duffy delighted at Dom Thomas hat-trick

In the second period the away side started well and could have put the game to bed with Thomas being denied by the goalkeeper’s foot before he fired over the bar.

But the hosts fought back into the game and you could sense the next goal would be important.

It fell to East Fife on 54 minutes when a cross from the left fell to Patrick Slattery who drilled the ball into the net.

Five minutes later Sons were wondering what had gone wrong as Kevin Smith nodded in a second to reduce the margin.

Sixty seconds later Smith clipped the crossbar before Dumbarton added a fourth.

That man Thomas shot from 20-yards and the ball flew into the top corner to secure his hat-trick in terrific fashion.

But the two goal margin lasted just just a couple of minutes with Dowds tucking the ball home from close range.

Dumbarton were pegged back, but should have put the game to bed on 70 minutes when Gallagher’s effort from close range was saved.

The hosts went down to 10 men with 15 minutes to go when Chris Kane dragged down Thomas then kicked out at him as the hat-trick hero looked to burst past the East Fife defence yet again.

That made the closing stages slightly easier for Dumbarton but it was still a nervy finale in a game that looked over at half-time.

Sons should have scored a fifth with the last kick of the game when East Fife threw everyone, including the goalkeeper, forward for a corner.

Sub Michael Paton led the counter attack after the ball was cleared but looked to get caught in two minds between shooting and passing and couldn’t add a fifth as it finished.

Dumbarton are in action twice this week as they welcome the division’s top two sides to The Rock with Raith Rovers visiting tonight and league leaders Arbroath on Saturday.