Lewis Denny’s double inspired Broughty United Panthers to victory over Broughty United. It’s not every day that two teams from the same club face off, but it was Broughty Panthers that walked away with the bragging rights, and the all-important three points.

Any thoughts of these two sides playing for a draw were quickly put to bed after three minutes. Daniel Boyle opened the scoring with a low finish from ten yards.

The lead was quickly doubled as Adam Barclay found the net with a looping effort from 20 yards.

United had goalkeeper Craig Gibb to thank for keeping the deficit down after 15 minutes. The keeper first smothering Ryan Carr’s close range effort, and then denying Boyle with another fine save.

In contrast, Panthers keeper Wilson Price had precious little to do in the first half, and his side nearly added a third when a long free kick landed at the feet of Josh Knight, but he fired over from just inside the box.

With the referee preparing to bring the first half to an end, the Panthers struck again. Price turned provider as his long ball released Ryan Carr, who raced clear of the United defence and coolly found the bottom corner.

Boyle opened the scoring three minutes into the first half, and nearly got his second three minutes into the second period. The wide-man was sent in behind the United defence, but saw his shot diverted onto the post by Gibb.

Connor Bain’s free kick nearly handed the hosts a lifeline after 55 minutes, but his effort came crashing off the crossbar. United had improved in the second half, but still hadn’t forced Price into anything other than a routine save.

Panthers captain Lewis Denny was the next player to get on the scoresheet. The midfielder got the break of the ball at the edge of the box and slotted a low shot past Gibb, extending his sides lead to four.

Bain went close with 10 minutes remaining, hitting the bar with another curling free kick from 25 yards. Denny managed to turn the ball past Gibb from a corner with 75 minutes gone.

Gregor Lee’s volley was held by Price in the closing stages before Broughty Panthers scored their sixth. Liam Innes, who had earlier curled a shot just past the post, fired a shot at Gibb, which the goalkeeper couldn’t keep out as the ball trundled over the line. Not the most spectacular goal, but one that Innes’ performance more than merited.

Broughty United will be hoping that this was just a bad day at the office. To their credit, they kept trying to play football to the last whistle, but couldn’t handle the pace of the Panthers forwards. They will hope to put in a better showing when the sides meet again later in the season.

Not only has this victory secured Broughty Panthers the bragging rights for the foreseeable future, it has put down a benchmark for them for the rest of the season. If they can perform to a similar level for the rest of the season, there’s no reason they can’t go and challenge for a spot at the top of the table this season.