Michael Kennedy beamed from ear to ear as his side warmed up for their historic Scottish Cup clash with a resounding 5-0 win against Irvine Meadow.
Darvel host Falkirk next Monday night live on BBC with an unthinkable quarter-final spot at stake, and a comfortable victory on Saturday was the perfect tonic.
Craig Moore bagged a wonderful hat-trick and Craig Truesdale got himself on the scoresheet, as did Ian McShane.
Darvel boss Michael Kennedy told Ayrshire Football News: "£8 is really good value for this level of football, I think anyone who came today would have been pleased with that, we were outstanding at time, real high level stuff.
"We are a possession-based side, we work a lot on that, some of the goals and play in general was brilliant.
"The lads have been excellent for the last few months, they're at a high level and I'm really happy with it."
On Moore's hat-trick, Kennedy said: "When we signed Craig we were fortunate to get him, he's an extremely gifted centre forward.
"He had injuries, but he's back working hard and as you can see from the Irvine Meadow game he is exceptional."
Connor Boyd looked to give the visitors an early lead as he latched on to a Louis Kerr cross, but he couldn't wrap his foot around it enough to keep it down.
McShane opened the scoring after nine minutes after a fine passing move from Darvel and he dispatched his shot perfectly.
Five minutes later it was two, and it was the first of the afternoon for Moore who finished with a slightly dinked effort.
Just before the half hour mark Chris McGowan had a great chance to put daylight between the sides as he headed from a corner unmarked, but his effort fell just wide.
A minute before half-time and it was three as Craig Truesdale fired home sending his side 3-0 up into the break.
In the 52nd minute Moore was at the double with a fantastic curling left-footed effort from outside the area.
Substitute Robbie McNab, on loan from Kelty Hearts, almost made an instant impact on his debut as he ended up one-on-one with Marc Waters, but the shot stopper came out on top and got his legs in the way.
Ross Urquhart had a decent chance to pull one back in the 66th minute as he fired a looping header, but it wasn't quite on target as it landed on the roof of the net.
Moore then sealed the deal and the match ball as he rifled home a stunning third after 71 minutes.
Irvine Meadow boss George Grierson said: "It was bitterly disappointing, we got the shape wrong from the start.
"We then changed but by that point we were already 2-0 down, and to be honest the third goal just before half-time killed it.
"Sometimes you just have to take your hat off to a team, some of their movement was very good, you can see why they've beaten someone like Aberdeen.
"It's hard to say as an opposing manager sometimes, but we got what we deserved to be honest."
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