It’s a return to home comforts for the penultimate time this campaign, as we welcome our friends from Gartcairn to Portland Park for our 27th GreenVersity WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Gartcairn ⚽️
Saturday 26th April 2025
GreenVersity WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm
The “Final Five” becomes the Final Four for us now this season, as the season draws to a close in typical manic fashion. Clydebank have been deservedly crowned Champions already & they look towards the Lowland League Play-Off in May. The battle for second is certainly hotting up though, with both Johnstone Burgh & Auchinleck Talbot the chasing pack. With Johnstone Burgh facing a points deduction, that leaves us in the driving seat, but we need to chalk up the points to stay ahead of the pack. And Drumchapel & St. Cadoc’s won’t have written off their inclusion in that battle as well, even if they may seem outsiders at the moment. Plenty of ups and downs still to come in this campaign yet!
Gartcairn have had the rollercoaster season to end all rollercoaster seasons! They had a stellar first campaign in the top flight last season, but a slow start was overcome by a measured recovery. However, a hammer blow came in December when they were deducted a whopping 15 points due to an administrative error, which sank them into the relegation zone from 6th position. Manager Mick Dunlop resigned in late March & was replaced by new Co-Managers Ryan McStay & Darren Barr who have the toughest task ahead of them.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
Stephen Bronsky and Jaime Gallagher both sat out Shotts & Darvel with wee niggles, but both hope to be involved again this weekend to help with the push for second.
We are unfortunately looking at a few players having kicked their last ball for this season now. Nathan Baird had to be helped from the pitch at Clydebank with a badly torn calf, while Jack Sherrie is also awaiting news on surgery for a hernia. Scott McLean is working through the lengthy rehabilitation following successful knee reconstruction surgery in early March, whilst Ewan McLevy is also working on his fitness after a knee injury sustained against St. Roch’s in October with a view to next season.
That was a good win on Tuesday night, very pleasing all round I thought. Two well-worked goals, a clean sheet & a performance that I never really thought had the result in any doubt from the first whistle. Darvel are fighting for their lives, and they were as well set-up as we expected, but I was encouraged by how well we matched their work-rate & application. 3 good points on the road to the Scottish Junior Cup holders, and we can go again into this weekend with confidence. And with such a young squad as well, in fact a third of our squad at Darvel on Tuesday went to school the next morning! A great advertisement for the Troon FC Youth Academy and the player pathway in action here at Troon.
Like Shotts & Darvel, Gartcairn are fighting for their lives so it’ll be about as far from a meaningless end of season match as you can get come Saturday. Their new Managers will see this double header as vital, but they’re up against it in terms of games left to play, so first port of call will be to match their application again as a minimum, then look for our quality to come through.
I’m not a fan of double-headers at any stage, but I think it’s particularly poor planning to have one at the business end of the season. Two must-win matches for our visitors & two key matches for us as we chase second, it’s got all the ingredients for a powderkeg & that shouldn’t happen at this stage of the season. Look forward to welcoming Army, Alex and the rest of the guys down, it’s probably just as well the two clubs get on great off the park. Crazy.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Gartcairn Football Academy |
| Nickname(s) | The ‘Cairn |
| Founded | 2007 (2015 as a senior side) |
| Ground | MTC Park, Airdrie |
| Capacity | 1,000 |
| Chairman | Martin Peacock |
| Co-Managers | Ryan McStay & Darren Barr |
| Captain | Kyle Hutton |
| 2023-24 | WOSFL Premier Division, 10th from 16 |
⚽️️ RYAN LOCKIE ⚽️
The 27 year old left-back was a Lowland League winning Captain with East Kilbride last season, before moving to MTC Park in December as part of a swap deal.
Began his career with St. Mirren before spells with Dumbarton, Shotts, Stirling, Blantyre, Camelon and St. Cadoc’s before he joined Mick Kennedy’s EK revolution. A real leader & a huge influence on the side from full-back.
⚽️️ ADAM McGOWAN ⚽️
The 21 year old joined the ‘Cairn in November from Tranent, and he has really come to the fore of late with some sterling performances.
Began his career with Hamilton before spells with East Kilbride and then Tranent, McGowan is already a vital player in the middle of the park for the new management team.
© Thanks to Rogue Monkey Digital Media and Gartcairn for their photos
Troon F.C.
| WON | DREW | LOST | WON | WON |
| 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 3-2 | 0-3 |
| Darvel (A) | Shotts (A) | Glenafton (H) | Largs (H) | Benburb (A) |
| Tues 22nd April | Sat 19th April | Sat 12th April | Sat 29th March | Sat 22nd March |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier |
Gartcairn
| DREW | LOST | WON | LOST | DREW |
| 2-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| Glenafton (A) | Auchinleck Talbot (H) | Largs (A) | Beith (H) | Hurlford (A) |
| Sat 19th April | Sat 12th April | Sat 5th April | Sat 15th March | Sat 8th March |
| WOSFL Premier | 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 BRAND NEW official Troon F.C. Twitter feed (I’m 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!
It was two enthralling encounters between the sides last season, ending in two draws but with plenty of goals and excitement!
AWAY MATCH
| Saturday 17th February 2024 | Match Centre |
| GARTCAIRN |