St. Cadoc’s Match Preview – Troon Football Club

81 days after Clydebank visited Portland Park for our final home match of the 2024-25 season, Troon are back to home comforts in competitive action as we welcome St. Cadoc’s for our second WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.

⚽️ Troon F.C. versus St. Cadoc’s ⚽️
Wednesday 30th July 2025
WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 7.30pm

Saturday was the perfect way to start a new season, bringing 3 points back down the road from a difficult away tie. But that counts for nothing come Wednesday as we look to start well at home.

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.

St. Cadoc’s have had a summer of comings & goings, following on from the change in management towards the end of last season. They will be led by former Morton midfielder Gary Muir this season, who was a major part of last season’s fantastic Development Team’s success, and one of his main KPI’s will be to introduce some of that talented Development Team into the first team. Indeed, 3 of those youngsters started Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Arthurlie and look to be a main part of the squad going forward. They have added real experience through the summer as well though, Lowland League Champion Ryan Lockie has returned to the Cads and he has been joined by Jamie Wilson from Cumnock, forward Scott Ferguson from East Kilbride and former Motherwell & Hearts goalkeeper Lee Hollis, who will also join Muir’s backroom staff.

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

Two fresh injury concerns after Saturday’s win at Renfrew. Sam Jamieson rolled an ankle in the build-up to Dean Fulton’s opener and had to be substituted in the first half, so he is likely to miss this match while he is being assessed. Leyton Dunlop had to be helped from the park after a strong knock on his calf, but he’ll be assessed on Monday night by Darrell. Hopefully he’ll be able to play his part.

We had three players who made their competitive debuts for the club on Saturday at Renfrew; Calum Gow (signed from Pollok) was a colossus in defence, whilst Lewis Lovering (signed from Beith) and Kieran MacDonald (signed from Lowland League Champions East Kilbride) entered from the bench in a successful second half. Of our other summer arrivals, Kyle Faulds (signed from Pollok) is still missing with a calf injury, while Stephen Docherty (also signed from Pollok) missed Saturday due to a suspension from last season, but he will be raring to go on Wednesday.

Captain Mark Morrison is still a doubt for Wednesday, but Callan Veitch is near a return following an ankle knock picked up during pre-season.

We do have a few injury issues still hanging over from last season. Jack Sherrie went for a scan on his hernia issue earlier this week & is hoping to undergo surgery soon to get back to playing before long. 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.

It’s another exciting season in the offing this term, my 16th in charge at the club.

First home game of the season, and it’s a midweek one under the lights which always has a special feel to it. We took 6 points out of 6 against St. Cadoc’s last season, who did the double against us the season before, so it’s a good game in prospect at Portland. A game where both teams will be looking to get 3 points and put a marker down for the season. We’ll see who gets to do that.

Saturday was pleasing to lift the 3 points, the second half in particular I thought we looked excellent & thoroughly deserved the win. Renfrew were really well organised first half & carried a threat, the half-time whistle probably suited us in all honesty, but I was pleased to see our composure & our ability take to the fore and secure the points. I think the supporters saw the improvement in the squad over the summer, as there was a resoluteness about the side in the closing moments of the game. We’ll need that this season, there will be plenty of points being fought over. This league gets tighter every season, it’s never been more important to get points on the board & that’s very much the case right now.

Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)

Full Name	St. Cadoc’s Football Club
Nickname(s)	The ‘Cads
Founded	1987 (2020 as a senior team)
Ground	New Tinto Park, Govan
Capacity	1,000
President	Brendan Boyle
Manager	Gary Muir
Captain	Ryan Lockie
2024-25	WOSFL Premier Division, 5th from 16

⚽️️ JAMIE WILSON ⚽️

In a summer of change at the Cads, and with a new focus on youth coming through, it is the signing of the experienced Jamie Wilson that catches the eye.

League winner, Scottish Cup winner, League Cup winner. There have been few better midfielders in the West in the last decade or more than Jamie, such was his impact with Beith.

Began his Junior career with Troon, and after brief forays with St. Cadoc’s & Hurlford he spent several seasons at Cumnock before returning to the Cads this summer.

⚽️️ RYAN LOCKIE ⚽️

The 27 year old left-back first came to prominence with St. Cadoc’s as a swashbuckling left-back in their promotion-winning side from the 1st Division.

He was a Lowland League winning Captain with East Kilbride in 2023-24, before moving to Gartcairn in December as part of a swap deal with our own Kieran MacDonald.

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.

© Thanks to our club photographer Graeme McKenzie and Rogue Monkey Digital Media for their photos

St. Cadoc’s

DREW	DREW		WON	DREW
0-0	3-3	P-P	3-2	3-3
Arthurlie (A)	Ardeer Thistle (H)	Lesmahagow	Uni of Stirling (A)	Benburb (A)
Sat 26th July	Sat 19th July	Sat 12th July	Tues 8th July	Sat 5th July
WOSFL Premier	Pre-Season Friendly	Pre-Season Friendly	Pre-Season Friendly	Pre-Season Friendly

Troon F.C.

WON	DREW	WON	WON	LOST
1-2	2-2	0-5	4-0	0-2
Renfrew (A)	Kilmarnock (H)	Kirkintilloch Rob Roy (A)	Girvan (H)	Irvine Meadow (H)
Sat 26th July	Mon 21st July	Sat 19th July	Mon 14th July	Sat 12th July
WOSFL Premier	Pre-Season Friendly	Pre-Season Friendly	Pre-Season Friendly	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!

It was 2 wins out of 2 in the Premier Division for the Seasiders last season with two very impressive performances, before the Cads got some consolation with a WOSFL Cup win at New Tinto Park.

AWAY MATCH

Wednesday 31st July 2024

Match Centre

ST. CADOC’S	WON	New Tinto Park
TROON FOOTBALL CLUB	1-2	WOSFL Premier

The first encounter of 2025-25 was a summer’s evening at New Tinto Park in July, and the travelling Seasiders went home happy after a very encouraging display from the visitors.

After a tight first half with little between the sides, Troon came out strong in the second half and a lovely team move saw Dean Fulton fire the visitors ahead with half an hour to go. With several chances spurned after that, panic could have set in when Alan Lithgow headed in an equaliser against the run of play with 10 mins to go, but Sam Jamieson showed great composure to fire in the winner and send the 3 points back down the road.

CUP MATCH

Saturday 8th February 2025

Match Centre

ST. CADOC’S	WON	New Tinto Park
TROON FOOTBALL CLUB	4-0	West of Scotland Cup 4th Round

This Cup match was a controversial one, but ultimately a comfortable one for the hosts.

Martin Fellowes’s side came charging out the blocks, desperate to avenge the July defeat, and they opened the scoring after only 8 minutes with a Mark McLuckie header. Troon came back into the match & spurned a few chances to restore parity, before St. Cadoc’s were controversially awarded a second goal when Sam McCloskey cleared a ball off the line and a nervous looking linesman flagged for a goal amidst heavy protests just before the interval. An almost identical scenario happened just a few minutes the other side of the half-time break, which left St. Cadoc’s home & hosed and running out comfortable winners.

HOME MATCH

Wednesday 19th February 2025

Match Centre

TROON FOOTBALL CLUB	WON	Portland Park
ST. CADOC’S	7-2	WOSFL Premier

The third of the three encounters was a fantastic performance from the home side.

Troon made the perfect start to the match, as Kyle Gilroy slid us in front after only 3 minutes, before the visitors equalised after 2 minutes thanks to a smart finish from Ciaran Diver. Almost immediately after that, the floodgates opened & Troon went a little goal crazy; Sam Jamieson began the scoring on 25 minutes with a superb strike, Dario Viviani made it 3-1 on 28 minutes before Kyle Gilroy got back in on 33 minutes and completed his hat-trick on 37 minutes to send the Seasiders in 5-1 to the good at half-time and leave St. Cadoc’s shell-shocked at the interval.

The visitors came out with a little enthusiasm in the second 45 in the midst of a downpour and a flurry of substitutions, before Troon found their composure and returned to the scoring with young Jack Allan and Aldin El-Zubaidi making it 7-1, before an injury time consolation reduced the deficit to 7-2.

(before this week’s matches)

	REFEREE:
	Kieran O’Reilly
Assistant Referee 1:		Assistant Referee 2:
Lauchlan Dougall		James Quinn

Referee Observer:

To be appointed

For travelling supporters, have a look at our “How to get to Portland Park” page for directions and helpful tips:

How to get to Portland Park

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 game.

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 6pm ahead of the 7.30pm kick-off, and supporters of both clubs are very welcome.

And, indeed, neutrals!

📺 Come early & enjoy the football on the big screen! 📺

⏰ 7.00pm

Panathinaikos v Rangers

(UEFA Champions League Qualifying, 2nd Leg) ⚽️

The bar will likely close ahead of 11pm.

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.