Duncan MacNicol netted a hat-trick in the space of 15 first-half minutes to put the home side firmly in control after a fairly even first half hour. And though Duncan Simpson hauled Bute right back into the game with a well-struck double either side of the interval, MacNicol scored again on the hour mark to put the points out of the visitors' reach.

Bute's ranks required some reorganisation after two second team squad members were called upon to boost the ranks of the club's senior side for their Premier League game away to Lovat, with the result that several men in red took to the field in Strachur less than 100 per cent fit.

Saturday's game had a special significance for the home side: it was their last league match of the season, and also, hopefully, the last league fixture to be played on their legendarily hilly, sheep-dropping-strewn pitch on the shores of Loch Fyne ahead of a move to a new ground, with new changing facilities, for the 2011 campaign.

But Bute, hoping to banish the bad memories of some poor recent performances, were in no mood to allow their hosts to sign off without a fight, and there was little between the sides in the opening stages; Leighton Reid had the game's first decent shot on goal after Ruairidh Soane flicked on a Simpson shy, but Reid's effort from a tight angle flashed past the near post.

Arran Dunn held off his marker well to set up Tom McMillan for a shot which was deflected wide for a corner before Strachur's Andrew Wilson tried his luck from distance with a shot which was palmed away by Bute keeper John Whitelaw.

The homeside grew in confidence and influence as the first half went on, and should have taken the lead on 26 minutes when Bute captain Bob McKechnie slipped in front of goal - but Jason Reid was unable to take advantage, somehow managing to shoot wide with the goal gaping.

But the deadlock was broken just a minute later when Strachur were awarded a free hit on the edge of the D, from which Iain Hamish Paton found MacNicol in space at the back post to fire home the opening goal.

Strachur keeper Ewan Macdonald did well to block a Stewart Stirling snapshot as Bute looked for a way back into the game, but the visitors' task was made a good deal tougher when a missed clearance gave MacNicol a free run on goal and ample time to double Strachur's advantage on 41 minutes.

And goal number three followed almost immediately after the restart. It was a carbon copy of the hosts' second, with another missed clearance giving MacNicol all the room he needed to complete his hat-trick.

Bute, though, refused to let their heads drop at the loss of a third goal so close to the interval, and in the last minute of the half, the islanders pulled one back when Dunn combined well with Neil McKirdy to set up Simpson, who lashed a shot into the corner of the net.

Stirling tried his luck with an ambitious lob which was knocked away by Macdonald in the final move of the first half, but Bute picked up where they had left off almost as soon as referee George O'Rourke started the second period, and Simpson reduced the deficit to a single goal with a shot from distance which crept past Macdonald and over the line.

Dunn came close to completing Bute's comeback on 51 minutes, getting in a good shot from a McMillan corner only to see Macdonald knock the ball away with his stick. And the Strachur keeper had to look smart again two minutes later to palm away Simpson's effort after a short Stirling free hit.

But all Bute's good work was undone as the hour mark approached when McKechnie was dispossessed on the edge of the D, and MacNicol took full advantage to slip the ball past Whitelaw for his fourth goal of the day.

MacNicol might have added a fifth five minutes later, but pulled his shot wide when clean through on goal, and Bute's John McIntyre did well to pressurise Steven Bulloch into shooting off target as the home side sought to make the points safe.

David Kilpatrick came on for McKechnie in the final five minutes, but Strachur remained in the ascendancy in the closing stages. However, they were unable to add to their tally, Bulloch lifting a shot just over the bar before Wilson shot just wide deep into injury time after outpacing the injured Soane down the right.

* This Saturday, July 17, Bute travel to Perth to take on Tayforth in a South Division Two fixture; the game gets under way at 2.30pm.