Eamonn Brophy hit a brace as Kilmarnock ended their winless run at Rugby Park in emphatic style with a 5-1 victory over struggling Partick Thistle.

Killie have suffered a miserable time on their home patch so far this season, picking up just two points but a fine performance from Brophy saw that record come to an end.

The forward, who hit the winner against St Johnstone last week, struck twice and set up another as Steve Clarke's side cantered to a morale-boosting win that piles more pressure on Thistle, who remain bottom of the table.

Kris Boyd had earlier opened the scoring before a Chris Erskine equaliser, but Brophy struck twice and forced Niall Keown into an own goal before a Boyd penalty wrapped up a second successive win.

Despite their home struggles so far this season, Killie made a positive start to the match and took the lead after just 12 minutes.

Youssouf Mulumbu, on debut, drove at the defence before crossing for Boyd, and the veteran striker made no mistake as he swept the ball into the far corner.

There were familiar cries of frustration from the home fans minutes later however, as they allowed the ball to drop to Erskine in the corner of their area following a well-worked throw-in.

The midfielder hit a bouncing ball first time into the top corner, leaving Jamie MacDonald helpless as Thistle levelled the score after 16 minutes.

However Clarke's side quickly restored their advantage, this time thanks to a poor piece of goalkeeping from Tomas Cerny.

Boyd hit a free-kick from 25 yards through the wall and straight at Cerny, but he could only parry the straightforward effort back into the box and the path of the onrushing Brophy, who got there first and finished first time.

The hosts again started to look nervy as the half went on however, and dropped deeper and deeper but largely stopped Thistle from creating any clear openings.

As the crowd began to grow restless in the second half, it was down to Brophy to settle the nerves as two goals in five minutes effectively ended the contest.

First his shot forced Cerny to parry onto Keown who saw the ball trickle over the line, before Boyd's powerful header was flicked into the roof of the net from close range to make if 4-1.

Brophy thought he had the chance for a hat-trick with 10 minutes to go after the hosts were awarded a penalty, but Boyd ripped the ball from his grip and smashed home for a fifth.