It’s back to league duty for the Seasiders this week, as we head to New Tinto Park to take on Paul Lovering’s Benburb in our 7th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Benburb versus Troon F.C.⚽️
Saturday 9th September 2023
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
New Tinto Park, Govan
Kick-off 2pm
Jimmy Kirkwood’s men had a confident start to the season following a positive pre-season. The league campaign began well before a blip, but they look to have got back on track with points against Auchinleck Talbot & Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, before last weekend’s comfortable win against Blairgowrie in the Scottish Junior Cup.
Benburb have, again, made an excellent start to the campaign, with wins against Pollok & Hurlford being particularly notable. After a barnstorming second half to last season, they have absolutely carried on their form & will be keen to put last weekend’s disappointing Scottish Cup defeat to Pollok behind them as a hiccup.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
Sam McCloskey misses out after being stretchered off against Rob Roy with a torn hamstring. Fortunately, the scan showed it not to be quite as severe as first feared, but he is still likely to be missing for 8-10 weeks.
There’s been some player movement at Portland Park in the last couple of weeks. Stephen Wilson joined Maybole at the weekend for an undisclosed fee, Sam Jamieson departed last week to join Cumnock for an undisclosed fee, while Todd Henderson has joined Girvan on loan & Jack Marks has joined Whitletts on loan to get some game time. We will be keeping a close eye on their progress at Hamilton Park & Dam Park.
Logan Smith is back training and is targeting the Craigmark Cup match for his return, while Raymond Montgomerie is continuing his rehabilitation from ankle surgery at the end of last season. He will soon be back in contention, but no other major concerns apart from that.
Very pleasing performance last weekend, on a really hot day & a sticky surface. We showed real patience first half, Blairgowrie were well organised & worked their socks off, but I was really pleased with how we handled that & didn’t get flustered. We worked & probed, and found the opening with a wonderful strike from Mark Shankland bang on half-time. Second half, we were a joy to watch & played some football which was really pleasing on the eye, and we were well worth the win.
Great challenge this weekend, Benburb were a nightmare to play against two seasons ago & I expect every bit as difficult a game this week. Some really good players in their side, and I’ve got a lot of time for the Lovering’s, so all in all a game to look forward to.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Benburb Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The Bens, The Chooky Hens |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Ground | New Tinto Park, Govan |
| Capacity | 1,000 |
| Chairman | Frank Lovering |
| Manager | Paul Lovering |
| Captain | Ryan McCrone |
| 2022-23 | WOSFL First Division, 3rd from 16 |
⚽️️ RYAN LIVINGSTON ⚽️
A proper, old-fashioned Junior player, Ryan has been a tremendous servant for Benburb since signing in 2014.
A solid centre-forward, who is equally at home anywhere down the spine of the team, the 30 year-old recently broke Andy Wright’s record to become the club’s 21st century record appearance holder with 253 appearances, scoring 106 goals.
A thorn in the side of any opponent.
⚽️️ LEWIS LOVERING ⚽️
The third generation of the Lovering Benburb family, Lewis is well and truly forging his own path in the game.
The 23 year old began his career with Albion Rovers before spells with Neilston & Caledonian Braves, but he returned to New Tinto Park in 2020 and quickly became the lynchpin of the side, with some electric displays from the left flank.
Benburb’s Player of the Year in 2021-22 and 2022-23, Lewis has a fantastic career ahead of him.
© Thanks to Benburb FC for their photos
Benburb
| LOST | LOST | WON | LOST | WON |
| 2-2 (3-0 on pens) | 3-2 | 0-1 | 3-1 | 4-1 |
| Pollok (A) | Darvel (A) | Hurlford United (A) | St. Cadoc’s (A) | Pollok (H) |
| Sat 2nd September | Sat 26th August | Sat 19th August | Wed 16th August | Sat 12th August |
| Scottish Cup | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier |
Troon F.C.
| WON | DREW | DREW | LOST | LOST |
| 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 1-5 |
| Blairgowrie (A) | Rob Roy (H) | Auchinleck Talbot (H) | Hurlford United (A) | Largs Thistle (H) |
| Sat 2nd September | Sat 26th August | Wed 16th August | Sat 12th August | Sat 5th August |
| Scottish Junior Cup | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier |
If you can’t make it along to the game , you can keep up to date with all the latest info via the club’s social media channels:
Live updates from the official Troon F.C. Twitter feed:
- Team news pre-match
- Goal alerts
- News flashes
- Real time alerts
Match news via the official Troon F.C. Facebook page
- Team news pre-match
- Half-time score & update
- Full time results
Benburb finished 3rd in the 16 team WOSFL First Division 2022-23, which saw them make an immediate return to the Premier Division, righting a perceived wrong from season 2021-22 when they were relegated (after the season had finished) from 14th place in a 20 team Premier Division.
Troon finished 11th in the 16 team WOSFL Premier Division 2022-23 last season; a great start was marred by a mid-season drop, before a strong finish secured safety & actually ended up in a little disappointment that we didn’t finish higher.
(before this week’s matches)
| REFEREE: | ||
| Ross Birrell | ||
| Assistant Referee 1: | Assistant Referee 2: | |
| Danny Taylor | Kai Newell |
| Referee Observer: | Still to be appointed |
🚌 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚌
Unfortunately, there will be no official supporters bus to Benburb on Saturday.
🚍 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚏
🔗 STAGECOACH.com
🚝 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 🚉
🔗 SCOTRAIL.co.uk
Tickets are available at the turnstiles at New Tinto Park:
| Adult: | £9.00 |
| Concession: | £5.00 |
A detailed match report will be posted in the match centre after the game, with the team line-ups, scorers & bookings on the specific match page for the fixture.
To visit the match centre, CLICK HERE.
⚽️ Troon Development Team versus Maybole ⚽️
Friday 8th September 2023
Player Data WOSFDL League Cup (Section 14)
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 7.30pm
Head along & support the Troon stars of tomorrow!
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Craigmark Burntonians ⚽️
Saturday 16th September 2023
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm