Tommy Sloan hailed his Talbot side's appetite to win after they came from behind twice to beat Irvine Meadow and reach the Scottish Junior Cup quarter finals.
Craig McCracken's 88th minute header settled a fourth round thriller at Beechwood Park that Sloan himself admitted could have gone either way.
A bizarre Mick Wardrope goal with just six minutes on the clock gave Meadow an early head start before Graham Wilson's clinical close range finish levelled the score just before the hour mark.
Meadow quickly re-took the lead through skipper Mark McLennan's penalty after Wardrope was barged over in the box.
But Keir Samson restored parity with a brilliant glancing header before an end-to-end last 20 minutes was decided by defender McCracken's aerial prowess.
Victory keeps holders Talbot on course for an astonishing 14th Junior Cup triumph with a trip to Shotts up next in the last eight.
Sloan admitted he was relieved to still be in the competition as he insisted it was important for his side to build momentum ahead of hosting Scottish Premiership giants Hearts in the senior Scottish Cup next weekend.
He said: "We showed a bit of apetite coming back a couple of times and I was delighted with that.
"It was anybody's game. We've had chances, they've had chances – there was good saves at either end.
"I'm just delighted we came out on top at the finish.
"We've got a great record (in the competition) and we want to keep that going.
"We'd lost a couple of games there and now we've a couple of wins in a row again. That was important, obviously, going into next week."
Covid restrictions meant a maximum of only 500 fans were allowed inside Beechwood but both sets of fans created plenty of noise as the teams ran out onto the park.
And there was no mistaking the roar from the sizeable travelling support when Wardrope got them off to a dream start.
The midfielder sent a header crashing back off the crossbar after racing to get on the end of Sam McCloy's cross.
With no-one in blue lying in wait for the rebound, the chance looked gone. But a wicked backspin off the turf sent the ball looping into the net as all in black and gold looked on dumbfounded.
Talbot's response was to immediately go on the front foot but they found the Meadow defence in determined mood.
Samson should have hauled the home side level in 16 minutes when, from point blank range, he headed straight into the arms of Medda goalkeeper Marc Waters.
At the other end, Connor Boyd stung Andy Leishman's gloves with a fierce strike from 30 yards as Meadow went searching for a two-goal cushion.
The last clear cut chance of the first half fell Talbot's way in 38 minutes, Bryan Boylan finding room at the back post to steer a header on target only for Jared Willet to make a vital block and Waters to scramble the loose ball behind for a corner.
Meadow would have been expecting a big Talbot reaction after the break and that's exactly what they got.
The visitors found themselves hemmed in within seconds of the restart and Waters made a smart flying save to keep out Graham Wilson's 30 yard piledriver.
Wilson would have better luck in 58 minutes when he steamed onto a cross from the left to volley home at the back post.
The momentum seemed to be with the home side but Meadow got their noses back in front three minutes later after they were awarded a penalty kick for Gareth Armstrong's clumsy barge on Wardrope on the edge of the box.
McLennan duly sent Leishman the wrong way from the spot to leave Talbot with it all to do again.
Kieran Healy went close with a curling effort that had Waters scrambling across his line in 63 minutes.
And there was little the Meadow keeper could do when Samson found the corner of the net with a superb glancing header soon after to make it 2-2.
The goal set up a nerve-shredding finale with both teams really going for the kill.
Wardrope was inches away from getting on the end of substitute Derek McNab's hanging cross as Meadow threatened first.
Waters then pulled off arguably the save of the match when he showed fantastic reactions to keep out a powerful Glasgow effort.
Talbot had a huge let-off in 84 minutes when McNab hit the post from close range then saw his follow-up strike brilliantly blocked.
As Meadow tried to recycle the ball, fellow sub Ryan McKie appeared to be clipped by Glasgow in the box but referee Chris Gentles ignored the shouts for a penalty.
As the clock crept ever closer to the 90 minute mark, a penalty shoot-out looked set to decide the tie.
But Talbot had the final say when McCracken rose highest to head home Wilson's back post delivery with two minutes left on the clock.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
