Cove Rangers bowed out of the Scottish Cup at the hands of the Scottish Junior Cup holders in front of a large and vociferous home support which managed to create an intimidating atmosphere at Beechwood Park.
Having got the better of Wick Academy and now Cove Rangers, Talbot will again travel to face a Highland League side when they take on Fraserburgh in the third round of the Scottish Cup at Bellslea on November 24.
Disappointed Cove skipper Eric Watson said: “I felt we let ourselves down a bit in the first half as we didn’t compete.
“There was a fair slope on the park and the wind was in our face. All they did was knock the ball long and look for second balls and they’re very good at it.
“In the second half we dug in and got ourselves back in the game. We hit the post and had a couple of near misses. We should have had three penalties but perhaps the referee was intimidated by the crowd.”
Cove Rangers were without midfielder Connor Scully whose wife was due to give birth.
Goalkeeper Stuart McKenzie, midfielder Harry Milne and striker Daniel Park all returned after missing the previous week’s 1-1 draw at Balmoral Stadium, while former Nairn County forward Jordan MacRae was on the bench.
Cove failed to clear an Auchinleck corner in the 12th miute but James Glasgow should have done better than shoot wildly over the crossbar from 12 yards.
Jordon Brown had a chance at the other end soon after but he failed to find the target with a volley from 10 yards out.
The hosts should have taken the lead after 19 minutes when Calvin Kemp went through on goal but Stuart McKenzie brilliantly blocked the striker’s drive.
Sean McIlroy had the ball in the Cove net in the 25th minute but the strike was chalked off as the ball had already gone out of play.
Auchinleck’s pressure paid off when they took the lead in the 39th minute when McKenzie could not keep out a powerful strike from Stephen Wilson.
The visitors started the second half much better than the first and were back on level terms five minutes after the restart.
Brown went down in the box under a Neill McPherson challenge and referee Chris Fordyce pointed to the spot.
Mitch Megginson took the penalty and although Talbot keeper Andrew Leishman got a strong hand to the ball he couldn’t keep it out.
Auchinleck regained the lead on the hour mark when Kemp beat McKenzie with a tremendous 20-yard effort which flew into the corner of the net.
Cove replied with a close-range effort by substitute Jordon MacRae which was superbly cleared off the line by Willie Lyle.
Eight minutes from time Cove had loud appeals for another penalty kick turned down by referee Fordyce when substitute MacRae appeared to be pulled back as he set himself for an effort on goal.
In the final minute Blair Yule saw his 15 yard drive come back off the base of the post with Leishman beaten as time ran out on Cove.