BLANTYRE VICS made it back-to-back championship wins last night with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Vale of Clyde.

A second-half double from top marksman Craig Smith - his second goal coming in the final minute at Castle Park - clinched the Central First Division title honours and sparked joyous scenes of celebration for David Greig's men just a year down the line from when they stepped up as Second Division kingpins.

And their reward for going atop the pile ahead of long-time league leaders Bellshill Athletic is an Evening Times Champions Cup semi-final date at home to Ardrossan Winton Rovers next Monday night (kick-off 7.30pm).

An understandably edgy Vics had goalkeeper Kevin Macklin to thank for a couple of superb first-half stops to ensure the teams were tied at 0-0 going in at the interval.

Greggy's half-time pep talk led to the home side exerting more pressure and a greater dominance on the resumption and the breakthrough - greeted by loud cheers - arrived in 66 minutes when a Mark Thomson free-kick special was superbly parried at full stretch by Vale of Clyde shotstopper Jon Connolly, but his palming the ball up in the air saw Vics frontman Smith react quickest to head the ball home.

With confidence boosted, Vics twice came close to adding to their advantage through powerful Lee McShane headers, however Greig had to continue biting his nails out on the touchline right up until the 90th minute when victory was assured by the jet-paced Smiddy breaking through on goal to send in a shot, blocked by Connolly - only for the striker to squeeze the rebound home from a tight angle for 2-0.

A delighted Greig said afterwards: "When it came to run-in time, nobody fancied us to pick up enough points in our exhausting programme of games except ourselves.

"It's impossible to play great in every game but what you can do is have a winning spirit and drive to be the best that can make all the difference and our players have had those qualities and more besides.

"They have been terrific and I salute them as worthy champions."

LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS

Stagecoach League Central First Division: Blantyre Vics 2 Vale of Clyde 0, Dunipace 0 Renfrew 3.