Troon Football Club

Recap

⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Montrose Roselea ⚽️

Saturday 28 September 2019
Macron Scottish Junior Cup, 2nd Round
Portland Park, Troon KA10 6QN
Kick-off 2.30pm

MATCH REPORT by Richard Henderson

The day that everyone looks out for at the start of every season – the Scottish Junior Cup second round! Montrose Roselea were the visitors, who made the trip to the Ayrshire seaside for the first time ever.

Troon made a couple of enforced changes, with Andy Strachan (working) & Raymond Montgomerie (sister’s wedding) missing out, but Manager Jonathan Baillie was able to call on last season’s stand-out full-backs Mark Morrison & Jack Sherrie for the first time after both recovered from injuries. John Gemmell rushed back from holiday on the morning of the game in time to take his place on the bench.

Troon’s Cup campaign got off to a dream start, as Dean Keenan did really well to keep a cross ball in play and fired it back across goal to see the unlucky Jordan Reoch who, under pressure, tried to head behind and managed to put the ball past Ross McLeod and into his own net to give the Seasiders a welcome lead to calm the nerves. And calm the nerves it did, as you could see the confidence spread through the home team and Ryan Stevenson was next to threaten as a speculative shot sailed wide. Veteran Montrose keeper McLeod became a pivotal figure in the first half, when another Stevenson shot from distance was well saved. Dylan Pooler was next to threaten, and his clever running in behind the back line saw him face to face with the keeper on two occasions, but the agile keeper came out on top both times. Troon’s bluntness saw their early confidence fade, and David Beedie in the Roselea engine room started to influence the play far more, but Troon’s resolute defence kept the threat of Stephen Greig and Conlan Robertson at arms length.

HALF-TIME: TROON F.C. 1-0 MONTROSE ROSELEA

It was a relatively slow start to the second 45, as the match was evenly contested in the midfield. Troon’s profligacy eventually came back to haunt them, as their visitors pulled back an equaliser after their best spell of attacking play in the game. A lovely run down the left and a beautiful delivery from Kieran Thomson was met perfectly by dangerman Stephen Greig, who headed past ScoJo to draw level. Just as the Troon supporters were making their plans for the replay next Saturday, an innocuous looking ball in the Roselea box struck the arm of defender Reoch and referee Chris Hughes had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Talisman Ryan Stevenson stepped up and smashed the ball high past the despairing keeper, as the visitors slumped to their knees at this knockout blow. The Seasiders struck while the iron was hot and pressed home their advantage a few minutes later to kill off the tie completely. A Dean Fulton cross cum shot was saved by McLeod, and a good old fashioned stramash ensued in the box. The keeper made another block, but with about 10 guys throwing themselves at the ball, the linesman flagged a goal to seal the match. Dylan Pooler, Mark Morrison & Ryan Stevenson all claimed to have got the finishing touch – but who actually got the deciding touch? The ref gave it to Stevo.

Not a classic by any means, but some great signs of a Troon recovery in there. Better shape, important players returning to the fold & the most important fact is we’re in the hat for the third round draw a week on Tuesday!

MAN OF THE MATCH: TBA

📆 NEXT FIXTURE 📆

⚽️ Kilwinning Rangers versus Troon F.C. ⚽️

Saturday 12th October 2019
McBookie SJFA West Premiership
Buffs Park, Kilwinning Sports Club, Kilwinning KA13 6LF
Kick-off 2pm