AYBOLE 3 LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE 5

The last time these two teams met at Rosebank they couldn't produce a goal between them but they more than made up for that in a pulsating match at Ladywell on Saturday.

The home side got the goalfest going after just three minutes from a free kick out on the Maybole left. Aidan Connor launched the ball towards the far post where Damian Bloy took advantage of slack marking to open the scoring. Alan Paterson had the ball in the net again but Stranraer referee Sean Sutherland ruled that Bloy's pass had found him in an offside position.

Lugar fought back and, after a couple of good saves by home 'keeper Martin McCauley, the Bunnets equalised in the twelfth minute. Chris Vance looked offside when he took a pass out on the right but he showed a striker's instinct as he ran in and smashed a shot past McCauley to level the scores. Ryan Connelly hit the ball across the face of the goal off Ross Ballantyne's pass then Nicky Warren had to clear a David Jardine effort off the line as the visitors grew in confidence.

The referee was the only one threatening to spoil the entertainment with some strange decisions and he annoyed everyone by distributing yellow cards with reckless abandon. He didn't stem the flow of goals, however, as Maybole retook the lead five minutes into the second half. Lugar's back three were caught out by a route one ball that Callum McDade chased down the left then he took Ronnie Davis by surprise with a low shot that beat the 'keeper at his near post.

Six minutes later though, it was all square again when Stuart Milligan struck a stunning shot on the turn from 18 yards that flew past the left hand of the diving McCauley. The pendulum then swung towards Lugar in the 61st minute when McCauley came out to take a through ball from Milligan but the slippery ball squirmed from his grasp and the predatory Vance was on hand to roll the ball into an unguarded net.

The home side were enraged as the referee waved play on after Adam Lowe had clattered into Paterson in the box and when the home linesman expressed his opinion of the referee in forthright terms, the offended official promptly sent him off. 'Bole made it 3-3 after 64 minutes however, when the visitors switched off at a corner from the right and Peacock headed the ball into the net.

It was to be Lugar's day though, and some fine work on the left by Vance and sub Robbie Graham set up Jamie Conn for a shot that whistled into the top corner. As Maybole chased another equaliser, a last minute attack came to nought and Vance broke from half way to fire in the killer goal on an eventful afternoon.

MAYBOLE - McCauley, Baird, Connor, Peacock, Warren, Bloy, Paterson, Gardiner, Bell, Nimmo, McDade.

Substitutes : Campbell, Elliot, McMillan, Ewing, Macleod.

LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE - Davis, Ross, Lowe, Crolley, Curtis, Milligan, Connelly, Conn, Vance, Jardine, Ballantyne.

Substitutes : Montgomery, Graham, Millar.