Bute lined up with probably their strongest team of the season so far and exacted ample revenge on their visitors for a 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture back in April with a display which featured several excellent individual performances.

The only absentee from the Bute ranks was Alastair Morrison through injury, but the availability of such a strong squad allowed McMillan and his coaching colleague Duncan Simpson to ring the changes after the previous week's defeat to Oban Celtic.

But the personnel changes did Bute no harm at all, and the hosts went straight into the attack, with Stewart Stirling shooting wide and over the bar in the first quarter of an hour.

Taynuilt had their chances too, though, but no-one seemed to have their shooting boots on until the deadlock was broken in the 20th minute, Jody Gibson at half-back launching a long ball into the danger area for McMillan to turn and fire home from 20 yards.

That goal apart, both teams continued to show a lack of sharpness in front of goal, though there were plenty of opportunities in an end-to-end game with plenty to keep spectators interested, and Bute came agonisingly close to adding a second just before the break when Leighton Reid fired an enticing ball across the face of the goal where it was cut back to Stevie MacKellar, who missed the ball with his first effort but saw his second attempt just scrape the top of the Taynuilt crossbar.

One goal remained the margin as the teams lined up for the second half, but it didn't remain that way for long - Simpson gave away a foul by failing to keep his feet on the ground at the restart and from the resulting free hit Taynuilt broke away upfield and David Ferguson levelled the score with a shot which caught keeper John Whitelaw unsighted with no more than 15 seconds on the clock.

Taynuilt enjoyed a good spell of pressure after equalising, but Whitelaw more than made up for the loss of the goal with several excellent saves to prevent the visitors taking the lead.

And having weathered the Taynuilt storm, Bute regained the advantage on 65 minutes when Leighton Reid mis-hit a shy on the left and Stirling rescued the ball almost on the by-line before squeezing it into the net from the tightest of angles.

That goal gave Bute a huge lift, and after another fine save by Whitelaw kept the lead intact before the points were secured when Stirling's free hit, after a heavy challenge on Reid, was sent in the direction of McMillan at the edge of the Taynuilt area, and defender Alex MacVicar's attempted clearance ricocheted back off the Bute attacker and into the back of the net.

The Bute ranks were reshuffled after the third goal, with Thomas McCready coming on for John McIntyre and MacKellar moving back into defence, but Taynuilt had too much to do and too little time in which to do it, and the Bute players could be well pleased with their efforts when the final whistle was blown.

* Bute are away from home this Saturday, July 8, against Oban Celtic, with a throw-up time of 2.30pm.