AFTER 13 trophy-laden years with Auchinleck Talbot, James Latta has crossed the junior football divide.

The 32-year-old midfielder/defender on Friday signed for Kilwinning Rangers and hopes to replicate some of that success at Abbey Park.

Latta told Sportscene: "Kilwinning had previously shown an interest in me but I decided I wanted to stay on at Talbot at that point. But I feel Kilwinning a club who are very much on the up, you can see that in the set up they have in the boot room with all the jerseys hung up. They do everything for you, it's a great set up.

He won five Scottish Junior Cup crowns and five league titles at Beechwood, but felt it was time for change.

"There's a re-build going on at Auchinleck and I wasn't featuring every week. It will be great to work with Chris Strain. We played against each other many times when I was at Talbot and he was at Meadow and he was a tough opponent. Hopefully I can help Kilwinning challenge for the league and other trophies," he added.

Strain is delighted to have Latta on board and said: "James has so much experience in the game and will be a good influence on the younger players."

Buffs on Saturday progressed to the second round of the Scottish Junior Cup without kicking a ball. Their home tie against Saltcoats Vics was awarded to them with the visitors unable to field a team.

Saturday sees them host Kirkintilloch Rob Roy and Strain said: "This is a pivotal game for us and one we must win if we are to have a chance of claiming top spot or one of the top places in the league.We have six games away after this."