Troon Football Club

Recap

 Troon F.C. versus Preston Athletic
Saturday 21st November 2020
The Soccer Shop Challenge Cup (2nd Round)
Portland Park, Troon KA10 6QN
Kick-off 1.30pm

 

MATCH REPORT by Richard Henderson

Troon went crashing out of the Challenge Cup at the hands of Preston Athletic to make it a debut to forget in our new senior Cup competition at Portland Park.

It was a frenetic start to the match from both sides and it very quickly looked like a proper cup tie, but Troon were to open the scoring after just 16 minutes when Jordan Morton made it three in as many games, cutting in from the flank past two defenders to unleash a superb shot past the keeper to put the Seasiders in front. The visitors were positively unperturbed by this, and went straight up the park from the restart and forced a free-kick from goalscorer Morton, who was perhaps harshly shown a yellow card. Panners wideman Joe Murray stepped up & curled a lovely free-kick into the far corner past the diving Lundy to restore parity and fire up this cup tie nicely. Before Troon could relax after this blow, Preston made them pay again just two minutes later when they took advantage from slack defending at a throw-in for that man Murray to cross for Panners top scorer Johnny Edmond to tap home. Troon looked shell-shocked after this 5 minute turnaround and took some time to get back into their stride, with Preston quite happy to absorb pressure and look to break, but this was as near to the visitors goal as Troon saw for the rest of the half.

HALF-TIME: TROON F.C. 1-2 PRESTON ATHLETIC

Troon were forced into a change at the interval, with Dean Fulton replacing the injured Ryan Nisbet. Troon’s half-time rocket clearly ringing in the players heads, their effort & application was markedly improved as they pinned their visitors into their own half for the majority of the 45, with some resolute defending from the Panners keeping them at bay. James McGowan was first to seriously threaten, a strong header from a Gallagher corner coming back off the upright and being cleared by the away defence. The goal was starting to lead a charmed life as the attacks grew in intensity, and it was Dean Fulton who was next to threaten; a good move resulting in the marking defender sticking out a leg & the rebound coming back off the crossbar past the stranded Bain before bouncing to safety. Another McGowan header was cleared off a line from yet another corner, and a Josh Black effort was another to find the crossbar. New signing Alan Frizzell was introduced for his debut on 66 minutes (replacing the excellent Todd Henderson) and Jack Paterson replaced Jordan Morton as Troon changed shape & ramped up the pressure on their visitors for the closing stages. Another goal-line clearance came from a goal-bound Scott Chatham effort as time was running out, before Dean Fulton struck the crossbar once more as the home team wondered if it just wasn’t their day.

And just as it looked like time had almost run out on the Seasiders, up popped Jaime Gallagher. With a free-kick 25 yards from goal, the former Queens Park midfielder stepped up & played in a lovely ball which was lost in the mix by the keeper & found itself nestled in the back of the net to spark wild scenes amongst the home side, and see their East Lothian counterparts fall to their knees when the referee blew for time just on the restart. Another 30 minutes would be played.

END OF NORMAL TIME: TROON F.C. 2-2 PRESTON ATHLETIC

Given the momentum Troon had built up in the second half of normal time, it looked like the smart money would be on a Troon winner – but this extra-time period proved why I don’t gamble! Troon relaxed a little from the pulsating close to the second half, although with possession they continued to dominate their tired-looking visitors. Frizzell had a half-chance just inside the box which was smothered, while Jack Sherrie was unlucky with a shot from distance which was blocked for a corner.

HALF-TIME (EXTRA-TIME): TROON F.C. 2-2 PRESTON ATHLETIC

With just six minutes of extra-time remaining, disaster struck for the home side when our profligacy cost us dearly. Retaining possession in our own half, defender McGowan badly mis-hit a side field pass to keeper Lundy & caught out the netminder, who scrambled back to his line just in time to see the ball cross the line & the Assistant Referee flag for a goal. After creating chance after chance in attack for so much of the game, it was a bitter blow for one simple mistake to cost us so dearly. But the game was still not over and, with Troon in full kamikaze mode with only 3 minutes remaining, they were caught on a smart counter and as sub Mikey Hamilton raced clear to face Lundy one-on-one, he had the remarkable composure to chip the advancing keeper from 25 yards to spark wild celebrations amongst the travelling number. Their hosts still had a consolation coming though, as Dean Fulton was chopped down in the box a minute later, with former Hearts man Ryan Stevenson striking home with a minute remaining. It was too little, too late though in an enthralling cup-tie.

FULL-TIME (EXTRA-TIME): TROON F.C. 3-4 PRESTON ATHLETIC

A curious defeat for the Seasiders, who will be cursing their wretched first half performance for the defeat. They will be looking to make amends next Saturday, when they travel to Rutherglen for their next league match & look to return to the form that has seen them hit second place so far.

 

 MATCH OFFICIALS 

Referee: Steven MacDonald
Assistant Referee One: Louis McIntosh
Assistant Referee Two: Jamie Andrews

Referee Supervisor: Louis Thow

 

 MATCH PREVIEW 

To read the match preview, follow the link: http://troonfootballclub.co.uk/preston-211120-match-preview/

 NEXT FIXTURE 

Rutherglen Glencairn versus Troon F.C. 
Saturday 28th December 2020
PDM Buildbase WOSFL Premier Division
Celsius Stadium, Rutherglen G73 1HZ
Kick-off 1.45pm