Irvine Meadow Match Preview – Troon Football Club

It’s Ayrshire Derby Day, as Troon head up the coast to face Irvine Meadow XI for both teams’ 14th PDM Buildbase WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.

⚽️ Irvine Meadow XI versus Troon F.C.⚽️
Saturday 28th January 2023
PDM Buildbase WOSFL Premier Division
Meadow Park, Irvine
Kick-off 1.30pm

Saturday’s performance against Arthurlie was an improvement again from Troon, and a draw stops the rot of a run of poor results in front of the watching Meadow manager Grierson, who has become somewhat of a regular at Portland Park of late. But it could (and maybe should) have been even better had we been able to bury a number of good chances created. The Seasiders will be targeting 3 points this week to keep the upturn in form going.

Jimmy Kirkwood’s men have been on a disappointing run of form of late & they will be looking for their first competitive win in 8 matches after what was an excellent start to the season.

Irvine Meadow have had a roller coaster of a season, a decent start went sour before the departure of Colin Spence & James Latta from the Meadow Park hotseat. Former Kilwinning Rangers gaffer (and Troon keeper!) George Grierson was appointed in September & saw a run of 5 successive league wins which transformed their outlook & saw them climb as high as second in the table at one point.

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

The walking wounded is slightly improved for this week, although we still have a few knocks & niggles in the pack from some tough matches of late.

Stephen Wilson is a definite absentee after suffering a dislocated hip against Ashfield, and Raymond Montgomerie is still missing with an ankle injury, after being forced off at half-time in the same game. Recent signing Michael Aitken is missing after damaging his shoulder.

New signing Blair Richardson comes straight into the squad after signing from East Kilbride. Ben Black made a very welcome return to the pitch against Arthurlie, having been missing since the St Cuthbert Wanderers match in November where he was on the end of a nasty challenge which resulted in a red card for Alex Riddock. Logan Smith is also back in contention following a hip complaint, which is a massive boost to the squad with some big matches coming up.

I think the story of Saturday is that we were frustrated to come away with only a point, and after a poor run of form I think says a lot about how we’ve turned the corner a little recently. Arthurlie could very well say the same to be honest, they had some chances of their own in the last twenty minutes, but not so long ago we might have conceded there. It’s credit to the back line, and the way they banded together & grafted, that we saw the game out. And those qualities will be called upon again in the coming matches I’m sure.

These Ayrshire derbies are huge, for the players & the supporters alike, and we’ve enjoyed some terrific matches with Meadow over the seasons. Sometimes a little spicy, but that’s what these games are about.

Hopefully the supporters come out in numbers to back the team, and they are repaid with a performance and a result.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)

Full Name	Irvine Meadow XI Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Medda
Founded	1897
Ground	Meadow Park
Capacity	2132 (700 seated)
Chairman	Robert Jeffrey
Manager	George Grierson
Captain	Kyle Faulds
2021-22	WOSFL Premier Division, 8th of 20

⚽️️ CALLUM GRAHAM ⚽️

26 year old Callum has been a goal scoring sensation in the last few seasons after joining Ashfield from Motherwell Kings Amateurs. He scored 49 goals in his first season and a half with Ashfield after netting a phenomenal 199 goals in 5 seasons in the amateurs. His Pollok career began in similar fashion with 7 goals in 17 games.

He surprisingly departed Newlandsfield last March when he made a big money transfer to Meadow Park, where he has rediscovered his goalscoring touch.

⚽️️ CONNOR BOYD ⚽️

25 year old Connor has been a revelation since signing up at Meadow Park in the summer of 2020 from the amateur ranks.

Connor spent his formative years in the Kilmarnock Pro-Youth set-up, before spending time at Drongan United and more recently Hurlford Thistle.

Irvine Meadow XI

WON	v	Cumnock	(H)	2-1	Saturday 7^th January	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Kilwinning Rangers	(A)	4-2	Thursday 29^th December	WOSFL Premier Division
DRAW	v	Petershill	(A)	3-3	Wednesday 7^th December	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Darvel	(H)	1-2	Friday 2^nd December	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Beith	(A)	4-3	Saturday 26^th November	WOSFL Premier Division

Troon F.C.

DRAW	v	Arthurlie	(H)	0-0	Saturday 21^st January	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Beith	(H)	0-1	Wednesday 18^th January	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Clydebank	(A)	4-1	Saturday 14^th January	WOSFL Premier Division
LOST	v	Ashfield Ashfield win on penalties	(H)	2-2 (3-5)	Saturday 7^th January	WOSFL Cup
DRAW	v	Petershill	(H)	2-2	Friday 30^th December	WOSFL Premier 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: @Troon_FC

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

Irvine Meadow certainly had the better of the two encounters last season, lifting the maximum 6 points from our league matches in 2021-22.

In a tight first encounter of last season at Meadow Park, Troon saw multiple opportunities to take the lead spurned before two late strikes from Jamie Whyte & Mick Wardrope utilised Fraser McMillan’s long throw to see the home side claim the three points.

The return match in May was ultimately a bit of a dead rubber as the last game of the season, but an exciting 2-1 was served up with goals from Connor Boyd, Jamie Martin & a reply from Sam Jamieson.

(before Wednesday’s matches)

Referee: Andy Taylor
Assistant Referee One: Lewis Barnie
Assistant Referee Two: Will Gracie

Referee Observer: To be appointed

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

🚌 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚌

Due to the close proximity, there is no official supporter’s bus travelling to Irvine this week.

🚍 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚏

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

🔗 STAGECOACH.com

🚝 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 🚉

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

🔗 SCOTRAIL.co.uk

Tickets are available at the turnstiles at Meadow Park:

Adult:	£8.00
Concession:	£4.00

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.