Craigmark Burntonians Match Preview

Troon are back on Cup duty this weekend, when we welcome Craigmark Burntonians to Portland Park for the first time in a few seasons for our South Challenge Cup second round match.

⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Craigmark Burntonians ⚽️
Saturday 16th September 2023
The South Challenge Cup (2nd Round)
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm

Jimmy Kirkwood’s men have been consistently inconsistent this season, with good wins followed up by frustrating performances. A confident pre-season led us into a strong start to the league campaign, but the form guide has been as much up as it’s been down since then.

Craigmark didn’t have the start to the season they would have wished, but they have certainly picked up in recent weeks & have shown some excellent form. They were impressive when they saw off a Dalbeattie Star side (who played in the Lowland League last season) in the last round with a 6-2 victory, so they are certainly a side to beware of with some very familiar faces on board.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…

Logan Smith has been back in full training for a few weeks and has been targeting this match for his return, so expect to see him featuring at some point. Sam McCloskey misses out after being stretchered off against Kirkintilloch 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.

Jack Sherrie and Jaime Gallagher both miss this weekend’s match through suspension, after collecting the maximum 3 bookings in 4 matches in last season’s competition. No other major concerns apart from that.

There’s been some player movement at Portland Park in the last couple of weeks. Chris Millar played his last game for us last Saturday before retiring and taking up a management position with an SPFL club, Raymond Montgomerie joined Ardrossan Winton Rovers last weekend, Stephen Wilson joined Maybole for an undisclosed fee, Sam Jamieson departed 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.

Change is as good as a rest for us this weekend hopefully, give us a chance to stabilise ourselves from the last couple of weeks.

Really disappointing start last Saturday at Benburb, and we really shot ourselves in the foot with two goals in the opening 4 minutes. We saw in the Largs game in August, you concede early goals then it’s extremely hard against any team in this league to come back from, and so it proved. I’d doubt anyone in the ground would argue we weren’t the better team in the last hour or more, but it counts for nothing if you don’t put the ball in the net.

Craigmark will be right up for this, and we have to be ready for that. Ryan Caddis has put together an excellent side with some very experienced players in there, and they will have the bit between their teeth to come out & do something for sure. It’ll be good to see some familiar faces & their families back this weekend; Ross McCrea, Andy Strachan, Darren Miller, Mark Gilmour, Darren Johnson & Michael Reilly are all former Troon players, and there’s always that incentive of facing your old team.

We just have to ensure we approach the game in the correct manner, prepare properly & play as we are capable of.

Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)

Full Name	Craigmark Burntonians Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Mark
Founded	1946
Ground	Station Park, Dalmellington
Capacity	1,000
President	Debra Conway
Manager	Ryan Caddis
Captain	Liam Caddis
2022-23	WOSFL Second Division, 4th from 16

⚽️️ DARREN MILLER ⚽️

Darren is just one of a number of former Troon players returning to their old club this weekend, including Darren Johnson, Mark Gilmour, Andy Strachan, Ross McCrea and Michael Reilly.

Now Player/Assistant Manager alongside Ryan Caddis, Darren was a popular figure among the Troon support & is proving to be the very same at Craigmark, where his no-nonsense defending is crucial.

⚽️️ LIAM CADDIS ⚽️

The 29 year old Liam is, on his day, one of the top midfielders in the whole of the West, but there is a lot to be said for enjoying your football & Liam has chosen to ply his trade alongside his brothers at Craigmark.

Famously featured for St. Johnstone in the Europa League, providing the assist for Steven McLean’s winner. Featured strongly for Arbroath, Alloa Athletic & Stirling Albion, before entering the West of Scotland Football League.

Outstanding midfielder, outstanding leader & one to watch for sure.

© Thanks to Craigmark Burntonians for their images

Troon F.C.

LOST	WON	DREW	DREW	LOST
2-1	0-3	2-2	0-0	3-1
Benburb (A)	Blairgowrie (A)	Rob Roy (H)	Auchinleck Talbot (H)	Hurlford United (A)
Sat 9th September	Sat 2nd September	Sat 26^th August	Wed 16^th August	Sat 12^th August
WOSFL Premier	Scottish Junior Cup	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier

Craigmark Burntonians

WON	WON	LOST	WON	WON
1-2	1-3	2-3	6-2	3-2
Glasgow Uni (A)	Lanark Utd (A)	Yoker Athletic (H)	Dalbeattie Star (H)	Muirkirk (H)
Sat 9th September	Sat 2nd September	Sat 26^th August	Sat 19^th August	Wed 16^th August
WOSFL 2nd Division	Scottish Junior Cup	WOSFL 2nd Division	South Challenge Cup	WOSFL 2nd Division

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

Craigmark had a very entertaining season last term, their first in the WOSFL Second Division 2022-23 after relegation from the First Division the previous summer. They fell just two points short of an immediate return to the second tier, eventually missing out to Maybole after a season-long battle.

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)

	Match Referee:
	Barry Cook
Assistant Referee 1:		Assistant Referee 2:
Club Linesman		Club Linesman

Referee Observer:

To be appointed

For travelling supporters, have a look at our “How to get to Portland Park” page for directions and helpful tips:

How to get to Portland Park

Tickets are available at the turnstiles at Portland Park:

Adult:	£8.00
Concession:	£4.00
Under-16:	FREE

Season Tickets are NOT valid for this game.

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.

The social club at Portland Park will be open early from 12pm ahead of the 2pm kick-off, and supporters of both clubs are very welcome.

And, indeed, neutrals!

📺 Come early & stay late – enjoy the football on the big screen! 📺

⏰ 12.30pm	St. Johnstone v Rangers	(Scottish Premiership) ⚽️
⏰ 5.30pm	Newcastle v Brentford	(FA Premier League) ⚽️

The bar will close after the conclusion of the 5.30pm match.

Scott will be selling tickets for our half-time draw at the gate before kick-off, and inside the ground throughout the first half for just 50p a ticket.

Our local resident food truck, SCRAN have our hungry supporters covered with their own take on “Football Food” – highly recommended!

They will be open from 10am on Saturday & will be open right through the match til the evening, selling a variety of hot food & drinks as well as cold drinks.