Talbot boss Tommy Sloan hailed his side's resilience after watching them thump fierce rivals Cumnock Juniors 4-0 on Saturday.

The result at Beechwood Park, Talbot's ninth win in their last 10 matches, leaves Sloan's side in seventh in the league.

Cumnock lie two places and two points ahead, but have played five games more.

Murdo MacKinnon's men edged the first-half possession, and nearly took the lead with an incredible long-range effort from at least 35 yards, but it was Talbot who drew first blood through Neil Slooves' header in the 26th minute.

Cumnock Chronicle: Talbot and Cumnock faced off at Beechwood Park.Talbot and Cumnock faced off at Beechwood Park. (Image: NQ Archive)

The home side took control in the second half following a few half-chances for either side.

Ali Boyle converted a well-worked free-kick on 65 minutes to put the hosts two up, before substitutes Jamie Glasgow and Ross Smith, who came on at the same time, put the icing on a very tasty Talbot cake by adding the third and fourth respectively in the closing stages.

Despite passing up chances to make it five late on, Sloan told the Chronicle afterwards that he was delighted at his team's performance.

"It was a tight match for a long while but we got ourselves in front," he reflected.

"Cumnock had a bit of pressure and put balls in the box and had a great effort from distance.

"We reacted very well in the second half and got another goal and it looked as if we could score two or three after that."

Cumnock Chronicle: Tommy Sloan.Tommy Sloan. (Image: Archive)

And with the other teams vying for the Premier Division title all having dropped points in recent weeks, the win in front of a big derby day crowd at Beechwood has rekindled Talbot's faint hopes of having a say in the fate of the championship, despite a slow start to the season which saw them win just one of their first eight games.

Alongside their revived league campaign, Talbot also have a two-legged Junior Cup semi-final against Darvel to look forward to in April, as well as a West of Scotland Cup last eight tie against Craigmark later this month.

But Sloan insists he's not looking any further ahead than their next fixture, a league game at home to Hurlford this Saturday.

"We had good players come off the bench and they made the kind of impact you're always looking for," he added.

"We just need to move onto the next game against Hurlford and take things from there. That's the next game we're thinking about.

"It's great when you've got players making an impact off the bench and making me have to make a decision in the next game.

"It puts a bit of pressure on me as well, because they're wanting to play.

"We've got a good group here and hopefully we can keep things going to be successful."