AYRSHIRE DISTRICT LEAGUE AYRSHIRE DISTRICT LEAGUE LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE 0 KILWINNING RANGERS 5 With promotion already secured, Buffs needed to win at Rosebank and hope Winton Rovers would slip up at Darvel if the District League championship was to be theirs. For Lugar meanwhile, the drama recently had all been taking place off the field as the club's future hung in the balance.

As expected, the visitors took the initiative right from the start and only an offside flag prevented Jamie Anderson from scoring the opening goal as he beat goalkeeper Stephen Mather to a high ball into the goalmouth. The goal was merely delayed, however, and after twelve minutes Ben Lewis gave Kilwinning the lead when he connected with a corner from the left to volley past Mather.

Lugar responded with a shot from Roddy Paterson that 'keeper Fraser Stewart held confidently then a thirty-yard drive by Craig Peck that was also dealt with by Stewart. The Abbey Park side doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Mather pushed out a shot by Anderson but the ball fell perfectly for Dean Agnew who knocked in his team's second goal.

It was 3-0 to the visitors after 37 minutes when Mather dived at the feet of John Bradford and again Agnew was quickest to react when the ball ran loose and he placed into the unguarded net. Lewis headed wide after a cross was flicked on to him by Billy McLaren as the half came to an end and the second half began with Buffs still in the ascendency.

Mather came off his line to put an end to a dangerous run by Agnew with a tackle that a full-back would have been proud of but with an hour played the visitors bagged a fourth goal. Former Lugar player Owen Quigley finished off a fine solo run by firing the ball past Mather but thereafter the game threatened to die on its feet. Steven Shankland did his best to liven things up by putting a headlock on Isaac Kerr and got a yellow card from referee Ryan Oliver for his trouble.

The final goal arrived in the 70th minute when McLaren played in Anderson and the latter took the ball round the 'keeper before completing the scoring from an acute angle. Lugar's quest for a consolation goal produced only a header from Shankland following substitute Jake Baird's flick on, and a shot from Iain McCreadie both of which cleared the crossbar. James Cuthbertson was denied the chance to pull a goal back by a dubious offside flag but that was as close as Lugar came.

Tommy Maitland of Kilwinning picked up a late booking for a foul on Shankland but Buffs had already done all they could to secure the title. However, Winton's victory at Darvel meant that the league flag would fly at Ardrossan.

LUGAR BOSWELL THISTLE - Mather, Todd, Peck, Cuthbertson, Muir, Blain, Wilson, McCreadie, R.Paterson, Shankland, Wark.

Substitutes : Baird, Russell, Mullen, Roxburgh, Kelly.