Arthurlie slumped to another defeat on Saturday when hosts Auchinleck Talbot cruised to a 4-0 victory at Beechwood Park in a game that saw Arthurlie reduced to nine men.

Right at the start of the match Arthurlie were handed an opportunity to test Leishman when MacLennan was brought down just outside the area but Kevin McBride couldn’t get his effort from the resulting free kick on target.

That was about it from the Barrhead side as the hosts took the game by the scruff of the neck and went ahead after just eight minutes when Stephen Wilson fired past Grant Hay.

A string of corners for Talbot ended with Hyslop heading wide when it looked easier to score but Arthurlie almost drew level against the run of play when Lee Roulston managed to find himself space inside the home area - only for his shot to take a deflection before drifting past.

Down the other end, Hay did well to push a Shankland effort past for a corner which when sent over saw Hay make a better save to deny Hyslop’s header for another corner.

This time it was Armstrong who tried his luck but once again Hay got hands to it to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

Seven minutes from the break and the hosts got the second goal their dominance merited, a free kick from Pope to McIlroy who controlled the ball on his chest before playing it out of the reach of Hay to double their lead.

Things went from bad to worse three minutes later when Ryan Scanlon received a second yellow reducing the Barrhead side to ten men.

Into the second half and McGoldrick was introduced at the break for what would be a cameo appearance. Talbot’s pressing was relentless and

Michael Daly had to be at the top of his game to clear the danger on a few occasions while Hay denied Lyle and Shankland in quick succession.

The third goal came on fifty one minutes when a cross from Pope saw Glasgow crack an effort off the cross bar and Hyslop reacted first to stab the ball home.

Hay made good stops to deny Wilson and then McCracken as Talbot turned the screw, chasing more goals.

Lie’s task was soon made impossible, however, when McGoldrick received two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for pulling Wilson back and the second for a mistimed tackle reducing the side to nine men.

Then with 17 minutes left Wilson scored the pick of the bunch curling past Hay from the edge of the area.

With the result not in any doubt Talbot continued to surge forward and Hay had to be on his game to deny Pope, Wilson, Campbell, and Pope again to keep some resemblance of respectability to the final score which ended 4-0 in favour of Auchinleck.

Arthurlie, thankfully, won’t have to face teams of that calibre in the remaining games of the season but they have to somehow find a way of picking up points and soon or a two legged relegation play-off game looked assured.