Arthurlie boss Steve Kerrigan described Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Irvine Meadow as a “show of true character” and few among those watching from the Dunterlie terracings would argue.

Especially when his players recovered from going 2-0 down inside the opening three minutes of this Super Premier basement showdown.

The Ayrshiremen may feel they squandered a dream opportunity …arguably their last to get some momentum into their battle to avoid a relegation fate.

They could point to lady luck deserting them after first half efforts from Chris Wilson and Ryan Deas were foiled by the woodwork on top of injury forcing the early withdrawal of skipper Grant Evans

But the visitors would be stretching credibility to claim they got no more than their just desserts for near capitulation in the face of a Gary Smith-inspired Arthurlie onslaught over the second 45 minutes.

The former Motherwell striker got up highest in a crowded penalty box to head home a 61st-minute goal that acted to halve his team’s deficit while also crucially deflating the resolve of the Medda players who looked a beaten side from that point onwards.

Smith then played a part in the move that led to Ryan McGregor slotting home an 88th-minute equaliser before leaving the best to last in the shape of an exquisite injury-time free kick curled home from 20 yards range to clinch a barnstorming 3-2 success.

Asked to provide the secret of his half time pep talk brought Kerrigan to say:

”Let’s just say the guys returned to the pitch in no doubt over how angry I was with their slackness in the early stages.

“But the very fact we had created a few openings of our own during that opening spell had me confident of getting back into the game if we could just break the seal and Gary came up trumps with his first goal.

“ I knew another was coming if we continued to throw everything at Irvine Meadow and we got our reward, albeit late in the day, for refusing to settle for anything less than three points.”

The gaffer’s views were echoed by 24-year-old Smith whose delight over Arthurlie’s third league win of the season was tempered by recollections of his side’s horror start to the game .

He said: "No disrespect intended towards Irvine Meadow, but we simply cannot expect to give two goals of a start to teams in this division and come back like we did today.”

The mixture of disbelief and utter dejection in the faces of the Medda players as they trooped inside at the final whistle, barely 30 seconds after Smith's stunning winner, was a far cry from the beaming smiles following their sensational opening burst.

Only 45 seconds had elapsed when a far-flung free kick was met by player-coach Kevin Rutkiewicz and he powered an unstoppable header past Michael White for a 1-0 lead.

That advantage was doubled just a couple of minutes later when a clever exchange of passes released Ryan Deas inside the penalty box and he netted with a low shot.

The midfielder could have bettered that effort but for the crossbar keeping out a well hit left foot shot shortly after team-mate Wilson’s 22-yard free kick came back off the upright with White beaten all ends up.

Those near things were not lost on Medda gaffer David Greig when he gave his summations on Medda’s ninth defeat in eleven league starts .

He said: "We keep coming up with new ways to lose games from a winning position.

“Yes, the guys deserved to score more goals for some terrific attacking play but in fairness Arthurlie could have bagged a few themselves but for some terrific saves from Daniel Tobin as well as some last gasp blocking tackles.

“Evans having to come off and forcing a rejigging of our defence was a hammer blow as was Rutkiewicz turning his ankle after winning a high ball that affected his mobility.

So getting to half-time with our goal intact was a major plus.

“But we took a right going over after the interval and never managed to pose the same problems going forward again even though Stuart McCann came close with a cross against the face of the crossbar.

“Kev and Chris Wilson were brilliant under pressure and Tobin came up with the goods more often to keep Arthurlie at bay for long spells and I felt we might just pinch a win until the closing stages."

Elsewhere, tabletoppers Pollok suffered a damaging defeat away to Rob Roy but arguably an even greater cause of concern to southside supporters is the red card dished out to Carlo Monti for a “scissors challenge" that floored Rabs winger Chris Duff and looks certain to rule the Lok ace out of next weekend’s ETHXenergy Scottish Junior Cup last-eight clash with Kilbirnie Ladeside.

Monti’s dismissal in 42 minutes came with Pollok trailing to a Kevin Watt goal, but the ten men levelled matters early in the second half with a Mark Sideserf counter.

Almost immediately, one time Lok striker Willie Sawyers netted to regain the home side’s advantage.

But that score was cancelled out by a David Winters penalty goal and a share of the spoils was looking likely until Rabs defender Davie Barr headed home from an 88th-minute corner kick to seal a 3-2 success for the Kirkintilloch side.

Reigning champions Auchinleck Talbot played out a 0-0 stalemate away to Shettleston and a 1-1 honours even scoreline ensued in the head-to-head between title challengers Glenafton and Troon.

However, Petershill plunged deeper into the basement dogfight following a 2-1 defeat at Hurlford United whose marksmen were Glenn Mitchell and Stewart Kean.