Tommy Sloan side-stepped title talk after Auchinleck Talbot edged out Irvine Meadow to move within a point of WoSFL Premier leaders Pollok.
First half goals from Bryan Boylan and Graham Wilson were enough for Talbot to secure all three points at Beechwood Park despite a stunning Mick Wardrope strike reducing their advantage after the break.
It was a hard-fought victory and one that may yet prove significant in this season's title race on an afternoon rivals Pollok suffered a last-gasp defeat by the same scoreline at Darvel.
"I wasn't even aware they were playing to be honest with you," was Sloan's response to updates of that particular contest in a post-match interview with Ayrshire Football News.
With three games in hand, second-placed Talbot have manoeuvred themselves into a fantastic position ahead of the final two months of the campaign.
But Sloan insisted: "There's lots of points to be won and lost - there's nothing given out just now.
"We dropped points during the week at home (0-0 against Kilbirnie) so we're just glad to get back to winning ways.
"We did pretty well in the first half, scoring two good goals. We expected Meadow to come back and their boy has scored a worldy.
"We've not lost many goals lately but there's nothing you can do about that. We got over the line though."
This was the fourth meeting of the sides since September with hosts Talbot boasting a perfect record.
And they took just eight minutes to go in front, Boylan taking advantage of a gaping hole on the right side of Meadow's defence to race through and slot past Meadow goalkeeper Marc Waters.
It was 2-0 in 17 minutes, Graham Wilson firing home in a packed box just seconds after Waters clawed a Keir Samson header off the goal-line.
A change in formation steadied the ship for the visitors but, playing into a fairly strong wind, they struggled to mount any attacks of real note, with very little sticking up top.
Jamie Martin replaced Ryan McKie at the break as Meadow tried to pose more of a threat in forward areas.
There was certainly more energy and guile about the them but still little to trouble Andy Leishman in the Talbot goal.
Medda co-bosses Colin Spence and James Latta made a double change in 61 minutes with former Talbot stars Keir Milliken and Willie Lyle replacing Graham Boyd and Kyle Faulds.
But it took a moment of magic from the influential Wardrope to get them back in the match.
There looked to be little on for the inventive midfielder when he collected a pass on the edge of the Bot box, shadowed by two defenders.
But he cleverly created just enough room to bend a stunning shot into the top corner past a helpless Leishman at full-stretch.
It was now Talbot's turn to soak up some pressure and they coped well, restricting Meadow to half chances.
At the other end they served a few timely reminders of their threat, Wilson flashing a vicious volley narrowly past the post before Jamie Glasgow was foiled by Martin Findlay's superbly timed sliding block.
Keeper Waters then made a fantastic reaction save in the closing stages to keep Meadow's hopes of salvaging a point alive.
In the end however, they had left themselves with just too much to do.
Co-boss Colin Spence said: "At half-time we were bitterly disappointed with the boys.
"The two goals we sold - and everything we spoke about before the game just went out the window.
"But we challenged them to go and win the second half and total credit to them for the way they came back. I thought second half they were magnificent.
"Again though we just fall short up here."
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