WITH a raft of new Scottish records, personal bests and victories against a world-class field, one would hope that, as omens go, the host nation's performance at the Sainsbury's Glasgow International Match augurs well ahead of the Commonwealth Games this summer.

Saturday afternoon began with Kinross-shire's Laura Muir putting in a blistering run to win the 800m and set a new Scottish indoor record of 2:00.94 in front of a sell-out 5000 strong crowd at Emirates Arena.

Guy Learmonth followed suit with a superb display in the rarely-run 600m, to be first over the line in 1:16.48, eclipsing David Jenkins' Scottish indoor record of 1:18.0 which has stood for more than 40 years.

There were impressive wins too for fellow Scots Chris O'Hare in the men's 1500m, Stefanie Reid in the women's T44 long jump, and visually impaired sprinter Libby Clegg who ran 7.97 in the women's T11/12/13 60m, claiming a third new Scottish indoor record of the day.

Not to be left out, the women's and men's 4x400m relay teams, captained by Eilidh Child and Jamie Bowie, each claimed a place in the Scottish national record books with runs of 3:35.27 and 3:09.84 respectively.

Although not in action, there was a reminder of Lynsey Sharp's pedigree as she was belatedly presented with the 800m gold medal from the 2012 European Championships, upgraded from silver after Russia's Yelena Arzhakova was given a two-year doping ban last April.

While the overall final placings could look discouraging to the uninitiated, with Scotland finishing fourth on 40 points compared to the Commonwealth Select's 62, Great Britain & Northern Ireland's 59 and USA's 53 in the one-day event, there are many positives to be drawn.

One man certainly bolstered by the results, albeit still erring on the side of cautious optimism, was Stephen Maguire, director of coaching for Scottish Athletics.

"Laura, Guy, Chris - superb," he said. "They just fed off the crowd, didn't they? I think that lifted the whole place and it certainly showed me that they [are capable of] ballsy performances."

Maguire has set a target of two to five medals for his Scottish athletes at Glasgow 2014 and reiterated that this number will only be attained if "all the ducks are in a row".

"It's not going to be plain sailing, two to five medals is going to be difficult, but they have the calibre to do it," he said.

Maguire said his key focus would now be to ensure the build-up to the Games was "hassle-free".

He added: "I will be honest. We will have a big majority of athletes on our team who will really be preparing for the next Commonwealth Games and we don't expect much from them in Glasgow.

"The worst thing for me that could happen is people saying: 'Ah, they did nothing, they went out in the first round.' These are young developing athletes and it's very difficult when you have a home Games because the expectation from the public is heightened."

The electric atmosphere produced by a partisan home support at the Emirates, coupled with the snowball effect of a string of impressive Scots performances, was undoubtedly a crucial factor in the weekend's success - a scenario Maguire said he hoped to see replicated at this summer's Games.

"That's what we are looking for," he said. "We've got the marathon on the first day with Freya [Ross] and Susan [Partridge]. Without putting anyone under too much pressure, if we can hit the ground running very early it's all about an impetus and the feel-good factor."

It is a sentiment echoed by Learmonth who, fresh from his emphatic victory on Saturday, will compete in the Vienna Indoor Classic tomorrow.

"We all fed off each other," he said. "I saw Laura Muir's run when I was warming up, I saw Chris O'Hare winning when I was in the call room. You don't want to be the one who lets the momentum slide.

"When I heard everyone screaming their heads off, I got such a buzz and lift. There was such a roar even for just my name getting called on the start line, because the atmosphere had built up. To be honest, that last 50 metres of the race was deafening, just incredible."

Learmonth, who was among the first 27 athletes to qualify for Team Scotland last September, was sanguine when asked about the fortuitous timing of Glasgow 2014 in his own career trajectory.

"You can maybe call it luck. I see it as an opportunity," he said. "The athletes who are going have to grab those opportunities with both hands.

"There was great Scottish success on Saturday. And we know we can do it. We are a proud nation - we don't want people to be laughing at us at our own Games. We are going to do well, we are going to deliver. Saturday was just a small taste of what we can give back to Scotland."

He added: "Once we all get there, watch each other race, getting through the rounds, we'll all be excited and motivated to perform well - not just going along for the tracksuit."