It’s the first home match of 2024 & it’s a regular opponent who will first-foot us, when we welcome the visit of Cumnock for our 16th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Cumnock⚽️
Saturday 13th January 2024
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm
We’ve reached the midway point of our league campaign, following Saturday’s defeat at Auchinleck Talbot, and the report card will say “good, but could & should do better.”
Inconsistency has plagued Troon this season, with performances up & down and results unpredictable. Manager Jimmy Kirkwood will be hoping that a New Year gives the chance of a fresh start & a run of results to secure our position in the league again for next season, and maybe even more with the carrot of a home South Challenge Cup draw against Caledonian Braves to look forward to.
Cumnock had a fantastic end to last season, lifting the holy grail of the Scottish Junior Cup for the third time in their history last June at Broadwood. The club have been on a rollercoaster of changes since the final whistle rang – Brian McGinty departed the hot seat to be replaced by former St. Cadoc’s boss Johnny Doyle & top scorer Jordan Moore departed for Darvel for a record £20,000. Doyle left in October to be replaced by former Pollok Manager Murdo MacKinnon. Murdie will be hoping to stabilise the club & push on to the top echelons of the league.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
New signing Rabin Omar made an immediate impact last Saturday, scoring within 3 minutes of his introduction as a second half substitute. Fellow new signing Aldin El Zubaidi comes into contention for a starting spot following his move from Kilwinning Rangers. Jack Marks has joined Lugar Boswell Thistle on loan til the end of the season in order to get some game time.
Chris Millar misses out after pulling a hamstring against Auchinleck Talbot last weekend, but he should only be 2-3 weeks. Nicky Docherty is awaiting a scan on his injured knee, after he was stretchered off in our home match against Hurlford with suspected knee ligament damage, which is a real blow considering he was finding form at the heart of our back-line. Best wishes to Nicky as he awaits a full diagnosis.
Ewan McLevy & Jack Sherrie are not quite ready to return, but are expected to be back on the pitch in late January. Hopefully sooner rather than later!
Delighted to get a few reinforcements in this week, and quality ones at that. Rabin is an attacking midfielder of some pedigree, and not many players get to make an impact like that on their debut! Aldin is exactly what we have been needing, some experience and height at the heart of our defence. With Nicky’s injury added to the prolonged absence of Ewan & Jack, that just gives us a more solid base to start from & will hopefully give us a target at set pieces as well. We need to be better in both boxes, and he can absolutely be a piece in the jigsaw.
Last Saturday only proved to demonstrate why those reinforcements were needed, we were very worthy of at very least a draw in that game & to leave empty handed felt very unjust on Saturday night. But plenty of good to take from the match for sure.
This Saturday is the start of quite a number of home matches we have to play, so our park, home comforts & our home support can play a huge part in how our season ends. We have at least 10 home matches to play in the next 3/4 months, so if we can make Portland a happy hunting ground for us then we have an excellent chance.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Cumnock Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The ‘Nock |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Ground | Townhead Park, Cumnock |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| Club President | Kevin Orr |
| Manager | Murdo MacKinnon |
| Captain | Findlay Frye |
| 2022-23 | WOSFL Premier Division, 9th from 16 |
⚽️️ ALLAN MacKENZIE ⚽️
The most recent purchase by new Manager Murdo MacKinnon, joining from St. Cadoc’s for an undisclosed fee, 32 year old Allan is one of the top target men at this level.
Formerly with Alloa, Pollok, Auchinleck Talbot & Darvel, his strength, hard work & intelligence in leading the line are a massive threat to any defence.
⚽️️ LUKE WATT ⚽️
Another recent addition to the ranks by the new gaffer, 26 year old centre-back Luke moved to Townhead Park from Stranraer and he has really hit the ground running with some impressive displays.
Began his career with Motherwell before a move to Croatian football with NK Novigrad, Luke returned to Scotland for a short spell at Brechin City. Two years at Linlithgow Rose followed before returning to the SPFL with Stranraer.
© Thanks to St. Cadoc’s and Cumnock for their photos
Troon F.C.
| LOST | LOST | WON | LOST | WON |
| 3-2 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 4-1 | 5-1 |
| Auchinleck Talbot (A) | Hurlford United (H) | Largs Thistle (A) | Auchinleck Talbot (A) | Girvan (H) |
| Sat 6th January | Fri 29th December | Sat 16th December | Sat 9th December | Sat 25th November |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Cup (Round 3) | WOSFL Cup (Round 2) |
Cumnock
| DREW | WON |