Auchinleck Talbot are yet again Scottish Junior Cup kingpins following a 2-1 defeat of Musselburgh Athletic in yesterday's final at Rugby Park.

A meagre crowd of 5186 spectators took in the Junior showpiece which got underway with few goalscoring moments of any note as both teams opted on the side of caution and expressed themselves in best tentative fashion.

But everything changed just short of the half hour mark as the Ayrshire cracks went 1-0 to the good with a truly stunning goal from midfielder Dwayne Hyslop ... later confirmed as Man of the Match .

Latching on to a loose clearance in midfield, he let fly with a shot that flew beyond the outstretched arms of diving Musselburgh goalkeeper Ally Adams en route to the back of the net.

"The ball sat up nicely and was crying to be hit," said Hyslop, "and I thought to myself why not and thankfully it was on target."

Talbot continued on the ascendancy following this breakthrough but Musselburgh were clearly not for settling for second best and they got themselves back on level terms just five minutes short of the interval break.

No danger was apparent as top scorer Jordyn Sheerin dropped deep to pick up a Jackie Myles pass but from 30 yards he unleashed a ferocious and audacious attempt at goal which left Talbot No.1 Andy Leishman clutching at thin air.

At 1-1, East Region underdogs Musselburgh finished the half on top and they were well to the fore in the early second half exchanges as both sides battled to exert a supremacy in midfield .

The game's deciding moment arrived in 59 minutes when Talbot striker David Gormley cut in from the left and was upended by a despairing Andy Munro challenge that looked a stonewall penalty kick award even before Referee Steven Kirkland pointed to the spot .

Gordon Pope stepped up to the mark to convert with more than consummate ease to fire Talbot into a 2-1 lead.

Hard working striker Keir Milliken came close to extending his side's advantage with a left footed effort that came back off the upright with Adams beaten all ends up but Auchinleck were otherwise prepared to play out the closing stages in relative comfort in settling for a narrow win .

Ecstatic gaffer Tommy Sloan admitted: "Musselburgh posed a number of problems early on through having an extra man in midfield and prompted us to change shape at half time but I did not feel we looked like losing the game from that point on .

"Pee Wee's opening goal was special but it's no less than he deserves for being willing to have a go when the opportunity came his way and he is rightly due the plaudits .

"We'll go back to Auchinleck tonight and celebrate this win with our supporters but come Monday we will need to readjust our sights as there are still a number of crucial games to be played ."

Full back Pope ,scorer of the pressure pot matchwinning goal did his best to play down his contribution in saying " Sticking the ball away in these circumstances is all down to confidence and I never doubted I would hit the ball cleanly and ask their keeper to make a big save .

Pre-match ,more than a few eyebrows were raised by gaffer Sloan's decision to omit Talbot skipper James Latta from his starting line-up in preference to playing a Willie Lyle and Graham Wilson combo down the right flank.A

A battling and somewhat shellshocked looking Latta managed to make a belated appearance in coming on as a second half substitute for Wilson however he did not question his gaffer's surprise team selection/ .

He insisted , "Tommy does what he feels is in the best interests of the team and I go along with his picks even though I'm not always in agreement with the changes he makes .

"Today was a huge call .probably the biggest he's ever made but how can you argue a case when he's yet again won the Cup "

Stand in captain Mark Campbell shared the trophy presentation with Latta and revealed , "None of us had the foggiest as to what was on Tucker's mind until he read out his team earlier today.

"His leaving James out came as a shock and I'm not going to pretend otherwise but all's well that ends well so they say and thankfully we came good without James who outwardly showed not the slightest bit of disappointment and was instead going about the dressing room egging everyone on as your captain should do.

" It was only right that he shared the Cup presentation moment .

A delighted Latta summed up his feelings thus: "It was hard to hear the team being read out without my name but if Auchinleck Talbot winning this Final was dependent upon me sitting the game out then that's the way it has to be."