Largs Thistle face an arduous and uphill journey if they are to escape the spectre of relegation, but they took a significant first step by winning 3-2 at Ardeer Thistle in new manager Bryan Slavin's dugout debut.

In this jaggy dogfight between two Super First Division strugglers, Largs were undoubtedly the better side, however a late collapse almost saw all their good work undone, and they ended up grateful for the home team's failings in front of goal as well as a controversial refereeing decision in their favour.

It had all looked different after 90 minutes with Largs 3-0 ahead and three points as good as in the bag, and one could sense a lifting of the dark clouds that have enveloped supporters wearing gold and black scarves.

But the visiting players made the mistake of thinking the game was over and their easing down through the gears allowed Scott Reid and Ross Stewart to score stoppage-time goals for a battling Ardeer, whose hopes of completing a dramatic salvage job died with the final blast of David Roome's whistle.

Fledgling boss Slavin summed up his side's near calamity better than anyone else when he said: "I've played in Scottish Cup finals, but those closing minutes were the most nervous I have ever felt in a footballing sense.

"Having a few butterflies before the game was understandable, considering I was taking charge for the first time, but they soon disappeared watching how well the guys were performing out on the pitch and I was actually enjoying the occasion as the clock ticked down.

"But we sat way too deep after scoring our third goal and gave Ardeer every encouragement to punish us twice, so if the referee had not blown his whistle when he did, I might have run on to the pitch and did it for him.

"It was a great relief to get off to a winning start in my first game as manager, but we certainly made it a lot harder for ourselves than it needed to be."

Home boss Derek Gemmell was disappointed that a Michael Holden header was ruled out just before the visitors opened the scoring. He said: "That was the turning point because my players were still protesting when Largs went upfield and scored. Yet again, individual errors have cost us dearly and our two goals were clearly a case of too little, too late."

Ardeer, with a strong wind at their backs, began with a greater sense of purpose and might have taken the lead had Lee Munro not squandered an early opportunity set up for him by a Reid through ball.

The underfoot conditions making good football near impossible are best summed up by a comic episode after 22 minutes play when a tame passback by Ardeer full-back Craig Ramsay bobbled over goalkeeper Paul McCann's swinging foot and would have resulted in a certain goal for Largs striker James Marks had he not turned his back in anticipation of the ball hitting him full force.

The momentum slowly turned in Largs' favour, but they had a lucky escape in 43 minutes when a corner was met by towering stopper Holden, whose header crashed off the underside of the crossbar and appeared to bounce over the line, but referee Roome thought otherwise and waved play on despite the outraged protests of the home players.

His take on things proved ever more defining just two minutes later as the hard-working Marks got on the end of a right-wing cross to net with a fierce shot and earn a 1-0 interval advantage that should have been wiped out on the restart but for the unfortunate Munro failing to convert when put clean through on goal.

A relieved Largs went looking for further goals and were rewarded when a terrific run and driven cross by Glen Thomson was clipped home by Willie McClure, but the visitors saved the best for last, or at least for the 89th minute, when Marks netted their third goal with an acrobatic hitch-kick.

Slavin added: "Today was a fabulous team effort and our two front men, Marks and McClure, did superbly in giving us a pay-off for our efforts ."

Meanwhile, arguably the best result of the day came up in Fife where Yoker Athletic - thanks to Steff Reilly's goal - overcame Glenrothes 1-0 to clinch a place in the Scottish Cup last 16 for a second consecutive season.

St Andrews United also made it into the fifth-round hat following a 2-0 defeat of Broughty Athletic.

There was good news for Rossvale supporters after Martin Lauchlan's men further extended their lead atop the Central Second Division pile to seven points with an emphatic 4-1 victory at Port Glasgow thanks to a Yami Misango hat-trick and Fraser Team counter.

Elsewhere, there were resounding wins for Ayrshire District League title rivals Kilwinning and Ardrossan, with the Buffs trouncing halpless Muirkirk 9-1, while the Winton racked up a 5-2 win at home to Darvel with Billy Gilmour, Ian Cashmore, Lee McCrae (2) and Jared Willet on the scoresheet.