ELATED Irvine Meadow manager Stevie Rankin saluted his “phenomenal” side as they chalked up their first Premier Division victory in stunning style on Saturday.

They thrashed North Ayrshire rivals Beith 7-2 in a totally one-sided encounter at Meadow Park to move up to ninth spot, ahead of basement side Beith, Pollok and Glenafton Athletic on goal difference.

The home side blasted three goals in the opening five minutes to put the game out of sight.

Rankin was impressed with his team’s showing and told Sporttimes: “That was a phenomenal performance from us and the first 20 minutes are the best I remember in football as the goals were all top quality. We have been scoring a lot of goals in recent bounce games and the training sessions have gone well so it was nice to see the work we have been doing coming to fruition. I would say that’s the best we have played in a long time. We had seen improvements against Arthurlie but it was just good to finally pick up a win in the league.

“I expect the league might be tighter than it has been for a few seasons as we have lost twice, Auchinleck Talbot and Hurlford United have also been beaten. We now hope to start pushing up the table. Hopefully this win will boost our confidence and I was delighted we were able to reward the fans who has given us such strong backing with a great performance. It was a great team effort and absolutely everyone played their part.” However Rankin is warning his players to keep their feet firmly on the ground as they head to Guy’s Meadow on Saturday to face high-flying Kirkintilloch Rob Roy.

He said: “Rob Roy beat Talbot in their last competitive match so they will be going all out to take another scalp on Saturday. They will be on a high and will be up for it so we will have to be at our best. But the win has hopefully given us confidence and we had a really good training session on Monday night and the guys are working hard.” Meanwhile Irvine Victoria boss Stevie Wilson has vowed his team will learn lessons after they crashed out of the Scottish Junior Cup in spectacular fashion on Saturday.

They went down 7-1 to former winners Camelon, despite only trailing 2-1 in a tense first half.

Wilson conceded it was very much a game of two halves and said: “I felt the first half was quite close and we very much matched them. We disappointed to lose five goals in the second half. They scored two quick goals just after the break and that totally knocked the stuffing out of us. We had a goal chopped off for offside at 4-1 down and that might have given us a glimmer of hope.” The manager is now focusing on Saturday’s home District League clash with Craigmark Burntonians and said: “We weren’t going to win the Scottish Cup let’s face although it was disappointing. Training went well on Monday and they guys now have it out of their systems. Craigmark have improved and you can’t turn up expecting three points against the likes of them and Muirkirk. But we have been doing well in the league and the aim is to win the game.” Carlo Scaramuzza and Kevin Adam return from holiday for the match. But Callum Davidson is on holiday and misses out along with Mark McRobert (thigh strain).