Cumnock Match Preview – Troon Football Club

The big matches just keep coming, and this midweek we travel to a familiar venue in Townhead Park to take on Stephen Swift’s Cumnock in our 5th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season already.

⚽️ Cumnock versus Troon F.C. ⚽️
Wednesday 13th August 2025
WOSFL Premier Division
Townhead Park, Cumnock
Kick-off 7.45pm

Four wins out of four is certainly an encouraging start, but that’s all it is as focus shifts to Wednesday’s match. Saturday’s match against Beith was won by the tightest of margins, so plenty of areas still to improve on.

Last season was a fantastic season for the club, even if there was perhaps a little disappointment it didn’t end up in silverware of any kind. But there is certainly a steely determination in the camp to improve on that this season. As a result, this close season has perhaps been more evolution than revolution as we look to tweak what was good last year to go one better.

Cumnock had a real see-saw campaign last season. A hectic summer saw a raft of new signings, alongside the new management team of Stephen Swift & Craig McEwan, and a little inconsistency came along with all the changes. Some fantastic wins mirrored some disappointing defeats, before a creditable 7th place finish. This summer’s transfer business has been more fine-tuning the squad rather than the total rebuild of last summer, and the addition of Adam Forde in particular really pushes them to the forefront of the title hunt.

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

Starting to see the strength of our squad at last, with some of our injured players returning to action & making their presence felt on the park.

Captain Mark Morrison is back to light training on Monday, whilst Jack Sherrie has had great news from his consultant that he doesn’t require surgery after all and can restart training immediately, so hopefully we’ll see him back on the park soon. Kyle Faulds also returned to the bench on Saturday.

Sam Jamieson is undergoing treatment for an ankle injury sustained against Renfrew in the first league match of the season, while Scott McLean is continuing his rehab from his knee reconstruction surgery, he is back to gentle running now & is eyeing a comeback around Hallowe’en.

Fifth league game already, a hectic period to get the season up & running but the players have really grasped the opportunity to get some points in the bag straight away. I think a good start will be critical as the season goes on, so pleased we’ve managed that so far & we’ll look to keep that run going, although the matches certainly don’t get any easier. We need to embrace that challenge though, that’s what we face now.

Look at the matches between Troon and Cumnock in the last 4-5 years, it normally equals goals & I don’t expect Wednesday to be any different. Cumnock have recruited really well again & will have eyes on the league title now, so as always we’ll look forward to shaping up against a top side.

It’s just a shame it’s a bloody midweek again, feels like we’ve had at least one midweek match a season between the two sides, not sure why it’s always us!

It was always going to be difficult to hit the heights we reached against Kilwinning, but I was pleased we showed exactly what we’re made of to secure the 3 points against Beith on Saturday. The expectation was there from the supporters after the previous weekend, it was very pleasing to see the players accept that pressure & still take the three points. Beith were a side with plenty of experience & they made it very hard for us.

Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)

Full Name	Cumnock Juniors Football Club
Nickname(s)	The ‘Nock
Founded	1912
Ground	Townhead Park, Cumnock
Capacity	3,000
President	Kevin Orr
Manager	Stephen Swift
Captain	Robbie Buchanan
2024-25	WOSFL Premier Division, 7th from 16

⚽️️ ADAM FORDE ⚽️

The 29 year old is one of the top forwards in the West, following 8 years at Pollok scoring 127 goals in 241 competitive appearances, and his big-money signing was a real coup for Cumnock.

Adam began his professional career with Stranraer in 2012, joining them from Erskine YFC. In his three seasons at Stair Park, he made 24 league appearances, netting 3 times. He also spent time loaned out at Neilston and Kilbirnie, joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2015.

⚽️️ ALEX McCAW ⚽️

The highly-rated winger joined Cumnock from Albion Rovers in the summer as a key part of Stephen Swift’s transfer activity.

The 23 year old started off his professional career at St Mirren, with a couple of loan spells following, before joining Hurlford United. He spent a season in the Lowland League under Si Ferry at Open Goal Broomhill before moving to Cliftonhill.

© Thanks to Cumnock Juniors FC for their photos

Cumnock

WON	DREW	LOST	WON	WON
0-1	2-2	1-0	3-1	4-0
Kilwinning (A)	Renfrew (H)	Johnstone Burgh (A)	Largs (H)	Dundonald Bluebell (H)
Sat 9th August	Sat 2nd August	Wed 30th July	Sat 26th July	Sat 19th July
WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	Pre-Season Friendly

Troon F.C.

WON	WON	WON	WON	DREW
1-0	6-1	3-0	1-2	2-2
Beith (H)	Kilwinning Rangers (H)	St. Cadoc’s (H)	Renfrew (A)	Kilmarnock (H)
Sat 9th August	Sat 2nd August	Wed 30th July	Sat 26th July	Mon 21st July
WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	WOSFL Premier	Pre-Season Friendly

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 (nope, still not calling it X yet)

Team news pre-match
Goal alerts
News flashes
Real time alerts

Make sure you follow our NEW feed!

Match news via the official Troon F.C. Facebook page

Team news pre-match
Half-time score & update
Full time results

All news on the club FIRST via the official Troon F.C. WhatsApp Supporter’s Group chat

Vote for your Man of the Match
Info on functions & events
Book your seat on away buses
Discuss the match with fellow Troon fans!

Two more excellent matches between the two teams last season, and the Seasiders went unbeaten across the two WOSFL Premier Division matches.

HOME MATCH

Wednesday 14th August 2024

Match Centre

TROON FOOTBALL CLUB	WON	Portland Park
CUMNOCK	2-1	WOSFL Premier

The first encounter of 2024-25 was a thrilling encounter in the midweek sunshine at Portland Park.

Dylan Dykes gave the visitors the perfect start, as he fired them into the lead from a narrow angle after only two minutes, before Kyle Gilroy struck a sensational equaliser after 39 minutes.

The second half started at a rapid tempo as Troon pushed for the winner, which eventually came through former Cumnock man Sam Jamieson after Stef McCluskey had seen red shortly after coming on.

AWAY MATCH

Saturday 22nd February 2025

Match Centre

CUMNOCK	DREW	Townhead Park
TROON FOOTBALL CLUB	2-2	WOSFL Premier

The return match in February was to be another fantastic performance at Townhead, the scene of some tremendous encounters between the sides in recent seasons.

That man Jamieson again got a vital goal to get the Seasiders off on the perfect footing with a 6th minute opener, before the home side stabilised themselves & got back on level terms with Dylan Dykes in the 26th minute. Troon got another early goal in the second half through Kyle Gilroy, before Dykes got on the scoresheet again to restore parity. Both sides spurned good chances to secure the 3 points, before both had to settle for a hard-earned point apiece.

(before this week’s matches)

	REFEREE:
	Gary Train
Assistant Referee 1:		Assistant Referee 2:
David Miller		Scott Gunion

Referee Observer:

To be appointed

For travelling supporters, follow the Google Map below for directions to Townhead Park.

🚌 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚌

Due to the close proximity, there won’t be a supporter’s bus for this match.

🚍 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚏

To plan your journey from Troon to Cumnock, visit the “Journey Planner” section of Stagecoach’s website.

🔗 STAGECOACH.com

🚝 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 🚉

For train times from Troon to Cumnock, or to book tickets, visit Scotrail’s website.

🔗 SCOTRAIL.co.uk

Tickets are available at the cash turnstiles at Townhead Park:

Adult:	£9
Concession:	£6

You can find out all about the match itself by visiting the match centre both before and 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.