It took Pollok boss Murdie McKinnon no time at all to look ahead to what's next after his side secured a deserved 2-0 win over Glenafton on Saturday.

Contests coming thick and fast leave precious little time for teams to dwell on defeats and McKinnon was pleased to put last week's shock Bonnyton Thistle loss to the back of his mind. Even if he did feel the need to discuss the match in his post-match reflections.

He said: "I have to say our performance today was in stark contrast to last Wednesday down at Bonnyton with every single player looking like they wanted it right from the word go.

“We were energetic  and lively going forward and posed no end of problems for the Glenafton defence while our three man midfield were excellent, none more so than Stephen McDevitt in what was his first outing since the very start of pre-season because of work commitments.

“We did a bit of  homework on the Glens and were aware they have some good young players with a liking to get on the ball and dominate possession but we also felt they would make mistakes if put under pressure so our aim was to be able to capitalise when they did."

Murdie added: “Going into half time at level pegging didn’t do us justice as I felt we deserved to be at least one goal to the good and we were at pains to stress the need for the guys to keep playing in a similar vein and the rewards would surely come.

“Thankfully they did and once our noses were in front we were able to go on and win with some degree of comfort which is no easy task against a Glenafton team that typically fought their corner right to the final whistle.”

The home side's auspicious opening 45 minutes was marked by a number of near misses, starting with a clever Shaun Fraser chip in 19 minutes that was met by prolific marksman Adam Forde. His powerful header clattered back off the crossbar with Glens goalkeeper Scott Johnston looking on helplessly.

Another opening fell the way of the Lok striker when he blasted a shot over after his run into space was picked out by a long searching pass from teenage wing back Matty Grant, who was himself close to bagging the game’s opening goal shortly  afterwards, when a speculative 22 yard effort clipped the top of the crossbar on the way over.

The initiative remained firmly with the Glasgow outfit approaching the half-time interval with the impressive Fraser zipping a low shot just wide however a 0-0 stalemate ensued.

Thoughts of the 'far too warm for football' conditions (certainly by Glasgow standards) causing a drop in tempo were put to bed by Pollok, particularly front pairing Stuart McCann and Forde, in chasing down the visiting Glens players at every opportunity. And their sweat and hard toil paid dividends.

The breakthrough, when it arrived just after the hour mark, has to go down as a personal nightmare for Glens defender Ross Fisher whose failure to clear his lines led to Fraser playing the ball in front of McCann to bury a low shot past Johnston for 1-0 .

The goal scorer admitted: ”I thought we were by far and away the better team throughout today and just  needed the opening goal to give us a lift. Thankfully I was able to stick away my chance and I’m now feeling very confident after scoring in back-to-back games so the next big test against Glencairn cannot come soon enough.”

His was undoubtedly a decisive strike, however the game was truly over as a contest in 72 minutes when another Glens defensive mistake - this time hesitancy on the part of Sean Bennie - allowed McCann to get clear on the left and set up partner Forde to slot a low drive into the far corner of the net.

A rash of Glenafton substitutions followed but Pollok’s resolve was not seriously tested over the closing stages and the resulting three points has them sitting down in eighth spot in the Premier Division standings - with Glenafton three places worse off.

Ayrshire boss Mick McCann was left disappointed but not disheartened by his side’s showing.

He said: ”We as a club are in the midst of a rebuild and expectations have to be tempered with a realisation of where we stand in the grand scheme of things. This is a tough and unforgiving League and coming here to take on a well- established Pollok side was always a massive ask even without making the individual errors that cost us so dearly today.

“Growing together from the experience is key and the hope is our younger guys will learn lessons from today which can be put to good effect by them as individuals as well as this Glenafton team.”

Meanwhile, leading the top ] flight with shared 100 percent returns from their three outings to date are Kilwinning Rangers and Darvel after the Buffs racked up a resounding 5-0 victory over Blantyre Vics.

A David Syme penalty, Gavin Miller, Adam Caldwell, Jordan Stuart and Kyro Crawford were the scorers while Darvel ran out 2-0 winners over Rutherglen Glencairn.

Unbeaten but just off the pace on the seven points mark are a quartet of clubs, headed up by shock troops Cumbernauld United  for whom Danny Boyle , Kieron Boubekri and Kieran Hannoway  were on target in a 3-1 triumph away to Cumnock whose consolation came from a Smart Osadolar spot kick conversion.

Bryan Boylan and Keir Samson netted to help Auchinleck Talbot beat Troon 2-0, Liam Miller snatched the only goal of the game as Hurlford United got the better of near neighbours Bonnyton and Lewis Lovering dramatically headed home deep into injury time to see Benburb overcome Kilbirnie Ladeside 3-2.

Elsewhere, Liam McGonigle came off the bench after injury ruled him out to earn Clydebank a 1-0 success at Rob Roy, experienced Beith defender Connor McGlinchey bagged a brace in his side’s 2-1 win over Irvine Meadow while there was no fairy-tale ending for  new manager Iain Diack in his first game in charge of Rossvale down at Largs Thistle .

The Vale’s led through a James Finlay goal at the halfway stage but found themselves trailing 2-1 early in the second period following George Sewell and Ross Love goals for their Ayrshire hosts .

Hopes of picking up a first point of the season were raised by Ross Kavanagh’s 70th minute effort tying things up at 2-2, however  there was to be no response to late in the day strikes from Largs pair Scott Adam and Blair Docherty.