IRVINE MEADOW substitute Ryan Deas produced a late moment of magic to provide Gary McCann with the opportunity to head home the only goal of a tentative top-of-the-table Super Premier contest against Petershill.

When the dust had settled Medda were still in pole position and the Peasy tucked in behind them in second spot but, crucially, the Ayrshire men have now extended their advantage over their closest challengers to five points, and that lead could prove difficult to overhaul in the remaining two-thirds of the campaign.

The visiting Glasgow side might have cause to feel hard done by considering they had twice come close to winning the match during an enthralling second 45 minutes, with a last-gasp blocking tackle from their former player Michael Keenan preventing Graham Girvan from what looked a certain tap-in score and then Medda goalkeeper Graeme Shepherd thwarting Mark Lamont with a superb diving save.

Those near things sparked Medda acting manager Murdie McKinnon to throw on substitutes Deas and Willie Sawyers and they combined in 88 minutes to present the former with a scoring opportunity almost on the touchline.

However, the bearing down presence of Peasy No 1 Steven McNeil saw Deas turn away pursued by the goalkeeper. He kept his composure, though, and controlled the ball magnificently with a series of twists and turns that saw him flummox McNeil on no fewer than four occasions before making space to pick out McCann at the back post, who made no mistake with a powerful close-range header.

VISITING supporters gave a rendition of their party song "Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside " but the lyrics did not strike a chord with disconsolate gaffer Willie Patterson who revealed: "I felt the game had 0-0 written all over it from very early on so it's a massive disappointment to lose in this manner and so late in the day

"Our players did all that was asked of them and were never overawed by taking on the league leaders on their own patch so there are positives to be taken from the game but ultimately we have lost and there's nothing for it other than to dust ourselves down and get on with the task of picking up points every time we run out onto the pitch."

Petershill having their second half moments cannot disguise the fact they could have been trailing at the interval with Irvine Meadow - and ex-Peasy frontman Paul McLaughlin in particular - guilty of wasteful finishing.

The visitors appealing for offside allowed him a clear run through on goal in 20 minutes but he lamentably delayed his parting shot allowing Girvan to get back with a rescuing tackle and the striker also miskicked clean in front of goal after McCann cut the ball into his path.

McNeil also parried away a netbound Mark Thomson free kick and stand in boss McKinnon sported a beaming smile afterwards despite agreeing it was not one of his side's more scintillating showings.

He conceded: "Definitely a better result than performance and not too pretty if truth be told, but sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and I thought Willie's team never let him down as they were difficult to break down and very dangerous on the break through Lamont and Richie Burke.

"The teams were so evenly matched that a mistake or spark of brilliance was always going to decide matters and Deasy certainly provided something special when he was introduced to the fray." Medda's victory was given extra significance by reigning champions Auchinleck Talbot losing ground through a 1-0 defeat by Arthurlie, for whom former Harmony Row starlet Eddie McTernan was the matchwinner.

Beith took advantage of Bot's slip-up to go third top of the standings thanks to Paul Frize netting the only goal of the game away to Cumnock, while a 1-1 draw ensued in the Portland Park clash of basement pair Troon and Clydebank where Jamie Campbell's first-half score for the Bankies was cancelled out by a Craig Harvey second-half goal.

There was nothing decidedly close about the remaining top flight affair, where Glenafton ran out resounding 5-0 winners over Kilbirnie Ladeside who were handicapped by the red carding of goalkeeper Chris Fahey when trailing 2-0 to Aaron Connolly and Daniel Orsi goals for the Glens.

Not having a replacement keeper on their bench led to striker Ian Diack donning the gloves and he then conceded Alain Kinney's penalty-kick and a late double from Adam Strachan.