Troon Football Club

Recap

Beith versus Troon F.C. 
Saturday 14th November 2020
PDM Buildbase WOSFL Premier Division
Bellsdale Park, Beith KA15 2AF
Kick-off 1.45pm

 

MATCH REPORT by Richard Henderson

Troon endured a day of very mixed emotions at Bellsdale, as they had to settle for a point after a rollercoaster second half.

The Seasiders had to shuffle their pack considerably, after Dean Keenan suffered a shoulder injury last weekend in the win over Rossvale & Mark Morrison suffered an ankle injury at training on Wednesday. With Ross Barbour & Steven McCreadie being unavailable, Scott Chatham was drafted into an unfamiliar centre-back position alongside James McGowan, with young Todd Henderson taking his position at right-back. Troon looked dangerous right from the off, and Jordan Morton was first to threaten, collecting a beautiful switched ball from Ryan Stevenson on the right flank & cutting inside before his shot was blocked and cleared. Jaime Gallagher was creating plenty in possession for the visitors and he fed Dean Fulton for the next chance, but Captain Raymond Montgomerie’s shot from distance sailed over Dale Burgess’s crossbar. Beith’s Odhran Markey looked a real danger, and he was first to threaten for the home team, cutting inside Todd and driving for goal before James McGowan clipped him before he got in the box. The Seaside stopper saw an early, 9th minute, yellow card before Connor McGlinchey’s free-kick was blocked & cleared. After some Beith pressure, Jordan Morton fired a long, cross-field pass to Josh Black, who raced clear of his marker, but his cross into the box skidded right across the 18 yard box to safety. Troon’s pressure finally told when, on the 15th minute, Stevenson found Morton, who again cut inside and unleashed an unstoppable shot which went right through keeper Burgess to give the Seasiders the lead. Troon made it a quick-fire double just two minutes later; Gallagher finding space on the left & chipping in deftly to find the onrushing Stevenson. His beautiful touch set him up perfectly, and he poked past Burgess to give the rampant Seasiders a deserved lead. Troon’s high press was bearing fruit and Gallagher was next to threaten, his long range-strike being palmed away by Burgess before Troon had the first penalty shout of the game probably correctly waved away as McGowan went down under pressure from Danny O’Neill. Ryan Stevenson was on top form & more creative work saw him feed Todd Henderson, whose long distance shot went narrowly wide. Frustration was starting to boil over on the Beith side, and Stevenson went down under a heavy challenge in front of the visitors dugout just before the interval before claiming a kick-out whilst on the floor, but the officials separated the sides. Beith’s best chance of the half came just before half-time, with another McGlinchey free-kick sailing narrowly past Lundy’s post – but it seemed the Beith man was merely finding his range.

HALF-TIME: BEITH 0-2 TROON F.C.

Both sides made a change at the interval – Ryan Nisbet replacing the injured Dean Fulton, while Beith introduced the returning Kevin Watt for Jay Shields as they sought to find their way back into the match. They were gifted an opportunity just four minutes into the half, as stopper McGowan, who had been booked in the opening stages, was shocked to see a second yellow card when all Troon-minded individuals expected a free-kick in their favour. A very disappointing decision, which was to see Troon play the remaining 41 minutes of the game with only 1 recognised defender and influence the outcome of the game somewhat. Troon shuffled their pack to organise and still created chances, Morton & Stevenson combining to send Nisbet through, but his shot crept past the post. It was the same combination a few minutes later as Stevenson sent Nisbet in on goal, but this time Burgess made a smart save at his near post. Beith forced their first chance of the second period on the hour mark as Darren Jones found space at a corner to drive the ball into the area and Lundy was sharp down to make a point-blank save from Kevin Watt to leave the former Rob Roy man with his head in his hands.

All the controversy was saved for the closing 10 minutes and, just as the resolute Troon side were looking to leave with all 3 points, the referee pointed to the spot after Jones drove into the box and tumbled under a challenge from Chatham. The stand-in centre-half looked to have won the ball, but referee McCart waved away protestations to point to the spot. To add insult to injury, Troon’s remaining defender Jack Sherrie was shown a straight red card for his part in the protests leaving Troon to ride out the last 10 minutes with 9 men and no recognised defenders! McGlinchey stepped up to strike it high, but Lundy was unfortunate not to save it, only being able to deflect it high into the net. Even still, Troon sought to push forward & Nisbet set-up Gallagher for a shot on goal straight from the restart, but his shot crept past a relieved Burgess for a goal kick. Young Jordan Lusk entered for his competitive debut with five minutes remaining, but the 9 men couldn’t hold out forever. A tired Stevenson, who had been immense for Troon, tripped Hood on the edge of the box & it was that man McGlinchey who stepped up and wrong-footed Lundy to convert the free-kick & spark wild celebrations amongst the ‘Cabes. Enough time for one last moment of controversy, as a late challenge between Stevenson & Beith Captain Paul Frize saw the latter limp from the pitch with a sore looking ankle injury.

After such an impressive opening half, it was hard not to feel deflated heading home with only one point after some debatable refereeing decisions. But that one point was enough to see us go second in the early table, and certainly gives us a great platform to progress & do something special in a very unusual season.

 MATCH OFFICIALS 

Referee: Michael McCart
Assistant Referee One: Andrew Bryson
Assistant Referee Two: Michael Bonner

 MATCH PREVIEW 

To read the match preview, follow the link: http://troonfootballclub.co.uk/beith-141120-match-preview/

 MATCH HIGHLIGHTS 

Match highlights, courtesy of the club’s new official Media Partner, Memories by Movie, will appear here after the game.

 NEXT FIXTURE 

 Troon F.C. versus Preston Athletic
Saturday 21st November 2020
The Soccer Shop South Challenge Cup (Round Two)
Portland Park, Troon KA10 6QN
Kick-off 1.45pm