Troon Football Club

Recap

⚽️ Pollok versus Troon F.C. ⚽️
Saturday 23rd November 2019
Macron Scottish Junior Cup, 4th Round
Newlandsfield Park, Glasgow G43 2XR
Kick-off 1.45pm

MATCH REPORT by Michael Connolly

Saturday November 23rd was round 4 of the Macron Scottish Cup. A difficult draw saw Troon with an away tie at Pollok.

It was a very cold and cloudy day with steady rain as the teams took to the pitch at Newlandsfield Park. A healthy attendance of 505 greeted both teams. We started well with some good passing football in the first 15 minutes, but didn’t test the Pollok keeper – apart from a magnificent save he made from a Dean Keenan free-kick. The hosts came more into the game and took the lead in the 22nd minute – a good finish from midfielder Shaun Fraser. The through pass looked suspiciously offside – but the linesman kept his flag down, despite protestations from the Troon players. A feature of the first half were the number of yellow cards by referee Alastair Grieve. The ‘Lok number 6, Del Esplin, was his first of 7 cards and this was soon followed by John Gemmell, Ross Barbour and Dean Fulton as the officious referee nearly spoiled a good game of football. It was looking like a single goal deficit in the first half – but slack defending allowed Pollok midfielder Chris Duff spare to head the ‘Lok into a two goal lead just four minutes from the interval. A minute later their captain Paul Gallacher was also yellow-carded.

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

The second half saw Troon push forward to get back into the game. A tactical switch was made with 30 minutes remaining. Andy Strachan replaced Scott Chatham slotting in at central defence, and big John Gemmell moved into the attack. In the 80th minute another attacking substitution took place with Steven McCreadie replacing the injured Ross Barbour. Three minutes later Dean Keenan was yellow carded. The ref was not finished though, when the Pollok Manager Murdo MacKinnon was also booked 2 minutes from time. A well deserved consolation goal was scored, in a goalmouth scramble by Raymond Montgomerie.

We played well throughout, against a very good Pollok side. Their central defenders – and a very fast and tricky forward line were impressive. However, our determination and sheer effort – especially in the 2nd half merited, at least, a draw and a replay.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Raymond Montgomerie

📆 NEXT FIXTURE 📆

⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Pollok ⚽️
Saturday 30th November 2019
McBookie SJFA West Premiership
Portland Park, Portland Street, Troon KA10 6QN
Kick-off 1.45pm