Gabby McGill hit a hat-trick as Airdrie hammered Kelty Hearts to end a run of four games without a win in emphatic fashion.
The Diamonds striker grabbed two in the first half and completed his treble in the second half after Jack Milne turned the ball into his own net for Airdrie's second goal.
But the goal of the game came when Calum Gallagher produced some trickery on the edge of the box and lashed a stunning strike into the top corner to make absolutely sure of the points in under an hour, before Callum Smith added a sixth 12 minutes from time. Jamie Barjonas netted a late penalty for Kelty's consolation.
It's Airdrie's biggest win of the season, surpassing a 5-0 thrashing of Clyde back in September.
Despite the morale-boosting win, Airdrie remain outside of the promotion play-off spots in League One and two points adrift of rivals Alloa and Edinburgh, who both sit on 45 points after the Wasps came out on top in today's meeting between the two sides.
Player-boss Rhys McCabe wasn’t fit enough to start after feeling a tight hamstring in the defeat at Queen of the South and he was one of four changes from the 3-2 reverse at Palmerston. Also dropping out were Lachlan Byrd, Charlie Telfer and Euan Deveney and in came Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, Dean McMaster, Craig Watson and Justin Devenny.
The Diamonds were the first to threaten in the fifth minute when Callum Smith cleverly cut into the box on the byline and saw his shot turned behind by Kelty keeper Darren Jamieson at his near post.
In 12 minutes Joe Cardle almost found the opener when he showed some trickery to leave his marker for dead just inside the box. He opened his body out and curled an effort towards the top corner and Diamonds No.1 Josh Rae had to be at his best to claw it away.
Justin Devenny stung the palms of Jamieson with a strike from the edge of the box in 18 minutes and just seconds later he was picking the ball out of the net.
Neat build-up play created space for Smith to fire goal inside the box and when Jamieson could only parry the shot, McGill was on hand to blast home the rebound and open the scoring from close range.
The second goal followed on the half hour mark when an Adam Frizzell free-kick caused chaos and Calum Gallagher turned the ball back across goal. McGill put Jack Milne under pressure and the defender ended up hooking the ball into his own net.
Kelty's collapse continued and just eight minutes later McGill made it 3-0. Gallagher spotted his run and slipped him in one-on-one with Jamieson, and the striker made no mistake, keeping his cool to slot the ball home and wrap up the game before the half-time oranges.
It was almost 4-0 just moments into the second half when Ballantyne's cross picked out Frizzell unmarked at the back post, but his tame downward header was comfortably collected by Jamieson.
The fourth goal did arrive and it was McGill who got it in 57 minutes. He latched on to Smith's through ball and burst into the box, rounding Jamieson and sliding the ball home to complete his hat-trick with less than an hour played.
Just two minutes later it was 5-0, and Gallagher stole some of the limelight from his strike partner with a tremendous goal. His quick feet and trickery on the left-hand side of the box left his marker for dead and he lashed the ball into the top corner, giving Jamieson no chance.
Unfortunately for Kelty, their misery was far from complete and when substitute Charlie Telfer swung a corner to the back post in 78 minutes, Smoith stabbed the ball home on the volley to make it 6-0.
There was time for a consolation, however, as Barjonas netted a penalty in the 85th minute after he was fouled in the box.
The Diamonds are back in action next Saturday when they host bottom side Peterhead.
AIRDRIE: Rae, Ballantyne, Watson, Fordyce, Taylor-Sinclair, McMaster, Devenny (Kouider-Aissa 69), Frizzell (Telfer 69), McGill (Dixon 81), Gallagher (Kouider-Aissa 77), Smith.
Scorers: McGill 19, 37, 57 Milne 30 (og), Gallagher 59, Smith 78
Bookings: Tidser
Subs not used: Hutton, Byrd, Deveney, Stanway, McCabe.
KELTY: Jamieson, O'Ware, Philip (Shearer 80), Milne, Peggie (McCulloch 89), Leitch, Barjonas, Tidser, Austin (Hunter 79), Agyeman, Cardle (Darge 69).
Scorers: Barjonas 85 (pen)
Bookings: Leitch
Subs not used: Campbell, Hill, Hunter.
HT: 3-0
Ref: Matthew MacDermid
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