Port Glasgow boss Craig Brown is in no doubt Auchinleck Talbot will take some stopping in the Scottish Junior Cup ...

but he stopped short of tipping the Ayrshire kingpins for an eleventh trophy success.

Tommy Sloan's men advanced into the Holy Grail's last 16 with a resounding 4-0 away victory over their Central Second Division opponents, however Brown insisted the game was not the scary proposition he thought it might be.

He said: "Auchinleck are a team you don't want to start badly against because they go straight for the jugular if given the slightest encouragement.

"Going 3-0 down with just six minutes on the clock gave ourselves next to no chance of making a fist of it and, at that point, I feared a right going over lay in store because we were looking stunned and a bit like rabbits caught in the headlights.

"Auchinleck continued to play good football and it was worrying how they were able to retain the ball in the forward areas, but I was pleased with how we dug in and fought our corner to only concede one other goal from that point onwards.

"Overall, the better team on the day are through to the next round, and we have no complaints on that score, but I haven't seen enough of the top Junior clubs to predict the cup is Talbot's for the taking.

"What I will say is it will take an outstandingly good side to beat them."

The knockout blow inflicted upon Kilsyth in losing 4-2 away to Kilbirnie was also the result of an inauspicious start, according to Gers gaffer Keith Hogg.

"We served up an unbelievably poor performance in the opening 45 minutes and left ourselves with the proverbial a mountain to climb," said the former Linlithgow Rose two-time cup winner.

"Players had specific jobs to do and didn't carry them out, and we also found out to our cost that you cannot escape unpunished if you give Super Premier players too much time and space.

"It's disappointing because we largely hemmed Kilbirnie into defence after the break and passed up several scoring chances, but we cannot deny the result shows who were the better team overall."

Asked if he thought Kilbirnie were potential winners brought a guarded response from Hoggy.

"Mark Crilly said he doesn't know what Kilbirnie team is going to turn up from one week to the next, and that must be a worry even though he has a number of potential match-winners at his disposal.

"I was very impressed with the energy and skills of the right-sided midfielder Chris Malone, who posed a lot of problems for my defenders on Saturday, however it remains to be seen whether he can be just as effective against the bigger guns that lie in wait."

Elsewhere, one hears Rossvale's fourth-round exit at the hands of Musselburgh could lead to signing raids on the Central Second Division front-runners.

A number of Junior managers were in attendance at New Petershill Park, and the displays of young guns Fraser Team, Yani Misanjo and Stevie McQuade will not have escaped their attention.

Determined to rebuke all approaches is Vale boss Martin Lauchlan, who insisted: "People think my bringing in loan signings Alex Cassells (Partick Thistle) and now Martin McGuire (Albion Rovers), is a sign that some players are shipping out, but that is not the case.

"We are building a team here and not dismantling, so my plan is to make strengthening moves while keeping all the guys together to have a real go at winning our first ever league title ."

Meanwhile, the re-arranged fixture list leaving Super Premier Division outfit Beith facing the prospect of being idle for a fourth consecutive Saturday has prompted "Mighty" boss Johnny Millar into fixing up a friendly against East Kilbride at Bellsdale Park (11.30am).