It’s first versus second this weekend, as we return home after four away fixtures in a row and we welcome Cumnock to Portland Park for our 18th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Cumnock ⚽️
Saturday 21st February 2026
WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm
After an impeccable January, February didn’t get off to the start we were hoping for away at Dunterlie; an injury crisis led to a comprehensive defeat against a confident Arthurlie side flying after their win at Auchinleck Talbot the week before. After an enforced break with last Saturday’s postponement, which allowed some injured players some extra recuperation, it’s time to regroup & go again as we have shown we can do a few times already this season.
The challenges get tougher almost by each passing week, and we continue February with the visit of Cumnock. Last Saturday against Arthurlie was our 26th competitive match of the season, and we’ve recorded 20 wins from those 26 matches. A 77% win ratio isn’t bad, by anyone’s standards, but there is plenty of football still to be played.
Cumnock had a real see-saw campaign in 2024-25. 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 was 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. Indeed, they are currently 4th in the form table and have their eyes on the main prize, so we could be in for a cracker at Portland this weekend.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
We’ve considered ourselves pretty fortunate with injuries in the main this season, but the queue to Darrell’s treatment table has grown considerably in recent weeks.
To start with the good news first, it was fantastic to see Club Captain Mark Morrison return to the field for the first time since July following a groin injury. His return will be managed by the coaching staff, but still – great to see him back in the blue & black!
Most serious concern just now appears to be defender Jack Sherrie, who was helped from the pitch at Kilwinning with a worrying looking knee injury. He will be assessed once the swelling goes down & then his rehab will be planned from there with Darrell, but it is feared his recovery will be more long-term rather than short.
Centre-back Stephen Bronsky will miss this weekend, following his red card against Arthurlie last weekend. Vice-Captain Leyton Dunlop sat out last Saturday with a niggle, but he’s planning on a return this Saturday after training on Wednesday. Recent signing Lewis Allan came off against Arthurlie with a minor strain, but he’ll be fit for Saturday. Fellow defender Luke Watt also came off injured in the second half, he’ll continue to work with Darrel mid-week to assess his fitness.
Nathan Baird picked up an innocuous injury at work before the Kilwinning match, hopefully he is fit to return this weekend. Young Clayton Hood is nearing a return, he is hoping to feature for the Development Team in a friendly this week and can hopefully feature on the bench on Saturday. Evan Ferguson remains out, as does Scott McLean as he continues his rehab from knee reconstructive surgery.
An enforced break last weekend, which nobody would really choose to have, but I think Jack Frost actually helped us a little with hindsight. We had one or two carrying knocks and a Saturday off will have done them no harm at all, numbers were great at training on Monday & the boys were raring to go again.
We took advantage of the available Saturday to take in the Cumnock v Kilwinning match, so we have a better idea of what we will be facing this weekend. Cumnock have been on a superb run of form of late and have crept their way up the table, so we could be in for a cracker on Saturday. The table is unfortunately a bit skewed because of imbalances in games played, so it’s hard to see exactly where everyone will fall, but this weekend will be 1st v 2nd and that should always make for an entertaining encounter.
We’re moving into a crucial part of the season now, some very important matches to be played and there’s gong to be some intriguing matches, that’s for sure. I think I worked out that Johnstone Burgh could have 21 matches to play in the next 13 weeks (and they’re by far not the only ones) so there’s plenty of twists & turns still to come. The pressure of what is at stake this season, coupled with the freedom of no relegation, is going to equate in some unpredictable results. The key will be who can keep their heads while others are losing theirs.
Here’s hoping Saturday’s match lives up to the billing, I’m quite sure it will. Look forward to seeing a big support!
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 |
⚽️️ TOMAS BRINDLEY ⚽️
The 24 year old was a summer signing from Stranraer, and he has settled in well at left-back turning in some eye-catching displays.
Tomas began his professional career with Kilmarnock, enjoying loan spells with Dumbarton and Forfar Athletic, before he joined Forfar permanently in 2022. He moved on to Stair Park after two seasons at Station Park, before he left for Townhead in July.
An experienced player for one so young, his ability causes problems from the flank and his delivery can cause real problems. One to watch from out wide.
⚽️️ DARREN BROWNLIE ⚽️
Another highly-experienced campaigner who has added real steel to the Cumnock rearguard, 31 year old Darren is another with nearly 200 SPFL appearances under his belt.
Began his senior career at Ayr United before moving on to join Partick Thistle in 2013. Spells with Cowdenbeath followed before a 5 year period with Queen of the South, making 122 appearances in a successful spell at Palmerston before a return to Partick Thistle in January 2020 where he won the League One title and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League, defeated by Ross County in the play-off.
In a team with a number of attacking players, Darren has given Stephen Swift’s men a solid platform to start from.
© Thanks to our club photographer Graeme McKenzie for his photos – fantastic, as always!
Troon F.C.
| LOST | WON | WON | WON | WON |
| 3-0 | 0-3 | 3-4 | 2-1 | 0-0 (4-1 on pens) |
| Arthurlie (A) | Kilwinning (A) | Shotts (A) | Renfrew (H) | Beith (H) |
| Sat 7th February 2026 | Fri 30th January 2026 | Sat 24th January | Sat 17th January | Sat 10th January |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Cup R4 |
Cumnock
| WON | LOST | WON | DREW | WON |
| 3-2 | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| Kilwinning (H) | Renfrew (A) | Tranent (A) | Glenafton (H) | Largs (A) |
| Sat 14th February 2026 | Sat 7th February 2026 | Sat 31st January 2026 | Sat 24th January | Sat 17th January |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | South Challenge Cup QF | 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 (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 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: | ||
| Thomas Denholm | ||
| Assistant Referee 1: | Assistant Referee 2: | |
| Scott McGregor | Andrew Carbry |
| Referee Observer: | Euan Norris |
Tickets are available at the cash turnstiles at Portland Park:
| Adult: | £10.00 |
| Concession: | £5.00 |
| Under-16: | FREE |
Season Tickets are valid for this match.
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.
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 & enjoy the football on the big screen! 📺
| ⏰ 12.30pm | West Brom v Coventry City | (Football League Championship) ⚽️ |
| ⏰ 5.30pm | West Ham v Bournemouth | (FA Premier League) ⚽️ |
The bar close following 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 all day on Saturday & will be open til late, selling a variety of hot food & drinks as well as cold drinks.
If you’ve never been to SCRAN before, you really need to watch Blair McNally’s YouTube video after his visit to Portland Park…and SCRAN!
⚽️ Renfrew versus Troon F.C. Development Team ⚽️
Friday 20th February 2026
Robbie Meiklem Cup (Round 2)
New Western Park
Kick-off 8pm
Head along & support the Troon stars of tomorrow!
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Drumchapel United ⚽️
Saturday 28th February 2026
Strathclyde Demolition West of Scotland Cup Quarter-Final
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm