GLENAFTON boss Ryan Caddis says striker Hugh Kerr has made a "tremendous" impact after returning to Loch Park from Pollok.

Kerr, who made the move back to New Cumnock last month, scored both of Glens' goals in Tuesday night's shock 2-1 derby win at home to Auchinleck Talbot.

The result made it five matches unbeaten for Caddis's side, who are now six points clear of third-bottom Rob Roy in the battle to avoid the drop.

It was only Talbot's second league defeat since August, and deals a big blow to the Beechwood Park team's title hopes.

Kerr's first goal gave Glens the lead after just six minutes - and though a towering Neil Slooves header brought Tommy Sloan's men level early in the second half, Kerr slid a Mick McMullin cross past Talbot keeper Aidan Glavin 12 minutes from time to earn the hosts maximum points.

"Hugh does what he does," Caddis said. "He’s been tremendous since he came in.

“Talbot had a lot of possession, but we had a shape and a game plan that we were disciplined in, and we made it hard for them.

“When you’re playing against a team like Auchinleck, they’re always going to create and get chances, but it’s about riding your luck at times."

But Caddis insisted that luck and discipline weren't the only reasons Glens came out on top.

"There’s two sides to the game," he added.

"We defended really well and we could have scored four or five ourselves.

“Tommy [Sloan] said we defended better than them which was pleasing for me because it had been a wee bit of an issue for us since I came in.

“They equalised, and we were up against it a wee bit in the second half, but Hugh got a second and we got a good three points.

“You know what a good three points it is. You know what it means in those sorts of derbies but we move on - it’s quickly forgotten about.”

Talbot boss Sloan had earlier credited their opponents for how they managed the game after going ahead on Tuesday night.

Cumnock Chronicle: Talbot celebrate their equaliser.Credit: Craig McGhee/Auchinleck Talbot

He told the club's social media team: “We’ve lost and early goal and it gave them a wee bit to hold on to. They sat in a shape and made it difficult for us for the rest of the half.

“We got ourself back in with a good goal, we had a number of chances to score and couldn’t quite get it over the line.

“The second goal is a disaster to lose. It just can’t happen, it’s a poor goal to lose from our point of view.

“We didn’t play badly tonight; they defended better than us.”

Caddis, meanwhile, hopes that Tuesday night's win can set Glens up for a strong finish to the campaign - as well as ending a home hoodoo. 

Remarkably the victory over Talbot was Glens' first home league win of the season, and with five of their last seven matches to be played at Loch Park, Caddis says he hopes it's a sign of better things to come.

“I’m hoping that’s the monkey off the back with that one," he said, "but what a way to do it.

“Last night, seeing the boys scoring then celebrating, there’s definitely a bunch of boys there who aren’t going to give things up easily.

“We’ll keep fighting, it’s an old cliche but it’s game at a time.”

Next up for Glens it's another championship-chasing side at Loch Park, with St Cadoc's set to travel to New Cumnock this Saturday, April 6.

Talbot, meanwhile, are on cup duty on Saturday, hosting Pollok at Beechwood in the semi-final of the West of Scotland Cup.