Auchinleck Talbot celebrated a third Evening Times Champions Cup triumph in four years on Saturday.

But the Ayrshire cracks were made to work extremely hard for it by a gutsy Renfrew side whose second half showing briefly gave rise to thoughts of a cup upset.

Auchinleck, though, were able to find another gear to get themselves out of bother and a 5-2 scoreline accurately reflects how they proved too slick and incisive for their battling opponents over the closing stages.

The perceived gulf between these sides appeared immense during an opening spell dominated by Auchinleck whose lively front man Keir Milliken struck the upright with an audacious shot on the run and was then foiled by Frew goalkeeper Mark Baird keeping out a net bound effort with his feet.

The near relentless pressure on Renfrew’s backline eventually told in 22 minutes when Bryan Young’s pass picked out Mark Shankland on the right side of the penalty box and he fired a fierce shot beyond the helpless Baird.

This breakthrough pumped up the vibrant Ayrshire supporters and they roared for their team’s 1-0 lead to be extended.

However, Renfrew were now playing with more verve and an equaliser almost arrived when the hard working Colin Forbes sent a free kick effort just inches wide of target.

The Central First Division champions were hoping to be more to the fore when second half matters got underway.

But they made little headway against a Talbot rearguard in which Steven White and Martin McGoldrick - later named man of the match - were winning challenges and acting as twin launchpads for many of their side’s attacking ventures.

One surging McGoldrick run forward in 49 minutes saw him thread a pass to Young whose shot on the turn was tipped past by Baird at full stretch.

However, what terracing onlookers believed was the killer second goal duly arrived from the ensuing corner kick as Robert Love scrambled the ball home.

This doubling of their lead was thought to signal Talbot coasting to the winning post.

Renfrew, though, had clearly not read the script as they went upfield for Chris Zok to head home back post and halve their deficit in 52 minutes.

This purple patch for the underdogs saw Jamie Benton strike the top of the crossbar with a long-range effort and unbelievably, they were back on level terms shortly afterwards.

A race for a through ball was won by Darren Jones and he kept his cool to direct a low shot past advancing goalkeeper Andy Leishman and into the empty net for 2-2.

Defensive mainstay McGoldrick said: "Conceding those goals was down to slackness on our part and took the gloss of an otherwise decent performance.

“And let’s not forget it could have proved even more costly because Zok came ever so close to putting Renfrew ahead.”

The big stopper was referring to a 68th-minute game-changing opportunity that fell to the Frew hitman with the scores tied at 2-2 only for his parting shot to strike the legs of Leishman and rebound to safety.

Auchinleck made the most of their escape by taking a 3-2 lead through the impressive Young who was handily placed to latch on to a loose ball and despatch a well struck volley into the net beyond the reach of Baird.

The keeper was more fortunate minutes later when the crossbar came to his aid minutes later after McGoldrick’s downward header at a corner kick bounced up to strike the woodwork.

Renfrew continued to look dangerous on the break, but their cup dreams suffered a deadly blow in 84 minutes when a passing move down the right flank resulted in Willie Boyd getting to the byeline to play a ball across for Love to fire home from close range. The little striker could have been celebrating a hat trick minutes later when Milliken surged clear and drew Baird off his line.

But his attempt to square the ball to his lurking team mate was under-hit allowing Euan Ramsay to slide in and make a saving challenge to prevent a certain fifth goal. As it transpired , the young defender’s efforts only delayed the inevitable until an 89th minute that saw Milliken’s pace again get him clear of a tiring Frew backline.

On this occasion, though, his cutback was rattled home by backing up midfielder Dwayne Hyslop to round off the scoring at 5-2. Two-goal marksman Love took time away from celebrating Talbot’s latest trophy win with delirious supporters to say: "It was pleasing to net a couple of goals in this Evening Times Final as I’ve had to bide my time on the bench for most of this season due to the outstanding form shown by Milly and Graham Wilson. “But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my season and my aim now is to try and make one of the striking jerseys mine on a more regular basis.” Disappointed but immensely proud Renfrew gaffer Colin Clark emerged afterwards to say: "Auchinleck warmed our goalkeeper’s hands just about every time they had a sight of our posts and that’s a lesson we have to take on board. ”They are just so clinical in front of goal and that was probably the biggest difference between the two teams out there today because we created chances of our own but just didn’t work big Leishman enough. “Forbes, Benton and Jones were among our best players but what’s even more encouraging is the fact Renfrew as a team did not look out of place against the top guns in the West Region and that’s a huge positive to be taking into the Super First Division next season."