The Petershill supporter who roared out “in a league of your own” as the Springburn outfit were presented with the Super First Division trophy immediately after Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Kello Rovers wasn’t too far off the mark.

Most people within earshot took his boast as an acknowledgement of Willie Patterson’s men having cantered to the title and it would be difficult to argue otherwise given their current 12-point lead atop the standings with one league game yet to play.

But his loud acclaim might easily have been for a quite sublime display served up by Peasy striker Chris Hall whose hat-trick more than anything prevented the Ayrshiremen from being party-poopers.

And little wonder when delighted gaffer Patterson went round and warmly congratulated each and every one of his playing charges at the final whistle that there was a special hug reserved for one time Ashfield hitman.

Nothing summed up the 28-year-old’s performance better than his third goal of the afternoon with two minutes left to play when he shrugged off Kello defender Martin Bell’s challenge as they chased a clearance upfield before skilfully rounding goalkeeper Ryan Dunsmuir and slotting the ball into an unguarded net.

Chris admitted: “I’ve been troubled with a knee injury for a large slice of this season and the goals have not always easy to come by so it was pleasing to get on the end of things today.

“Scoring makes all the hard work on the training ground worthwhile and right now I’m feeling fit and not surprisingly I don’t want the season to end.”

Petershill’s determination to finish their last home league game on a high had them pouring forward from the first whistle and only a terrific Declan Hill goal-line clearance prevented a certain score for Ian Gold however a reminder of the threat posed by Kello came at the other end when Graeme Ramage’s clipped free kick struck the upright. Hall’s first strike was from the penalty spot following a tackle from behind by Bell on Luke Crerand and the visiting defender can count himself fortunate to only have picked up a yellow card.

Crerand passing up a couple of clear-cut scoring opportunities kept the scoreline at 1-0 heading in at the interval and Petershill paid a heavy price just six minutes into the restart when the visitors got back on level terms with a disputed equaliser.

Yet another Ramage free kick deflected off Petershill’s defensive wall and was bundled home by Liam Fleming whose standing a mere yard from goal caused the far linesman to signal for offside however Referee Tony Fullerton adjudged the Kello player to have been played on by the ball striking a Peasy player.

The home team’s response was a Hall shot that was arrowing into the top corner until Kello keeper Dunsmuir’s acrobatic tip-over save and a further boost to the Ayrshiremen’s hopes of an upset arrived when Petershilll defender Ryan Haxton was red carded for a crunching tackle on Jordan Quinn which ended the Kello winger’s game.

Hall and Ian Gold came close with scoring efforts before the smile was put back on Petershill supporters’ faces with 15 minutes left to play after a rebound from a Chris Wilson free kick was latched onto by Hall and he swept a low right-footed shot into the far corner of the net for a 2-1 lead.

His third goal was the icing on the cake even though Kello boss John Quinn felt his players contributed. He insisted: “Hall was the difference but we didn’t help ourselves by sloppy defending at both his second-half goals.”

Petershill’s title success was wildly celebrated out on the pitch and smiling gaffer Patterson came inside brandishing the silverware to say:

“It’s been a long and hard season with its share of ups and downs but nobody can deny we are worthy champions and the players deserve all the credit going for the sheer consistency they have shown over the past 10 months.”