It’s the start of a brand New Year in 2024 & we start it by first-footing Auchinleck Talbot, when we head to Beechwood Park to take on Tommy Sloan’s side for our 15th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Auchinleck Talbot versus Troon F.C.⚽️
Saturday 6th January 2024
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Beechwood Park, Auchinleck
Kick-off 2pm
Inconsistency has been the watchword for Troon this season, with good wins followed up by frustrating performances. Manager Jimmy Kirkwood will be hoping that a New Year gives the chance of a fresh start & a run of results to secure our position in the league again for next season, and maybe even more with the carrot of a home South Challenge Cup draw against Caledonian Braves to look forward to.
After a summer of change in East Ayrshire, the new Talbot is starting to look a bit like the old Talbot! A long line of departures & arrivals meant a stop start to the season, but the wins have been coming in November & December and they are looking a formidable force once again.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s match…
Nicky Docherty was stretchered off in our home match against Hurlford with suspected knee ligament damage, which is a real blow considering he was finding form at the heart of our back-line. Best wishes to Nicky as he awaits a full diagnosis.
Ewan McLevy & Jack Sherrie are not quite ready to return, but are expected to be back on the pitch in January. Hopefully sooner rather than later!
New signing Rabin Omar comes straight into the squad after signing from Broomhill, and work is ongoing behind the scenes to further add to the squad in the face of some ongoing injuries.
First off, I’d like to wish a very Happy New Year to all our friends & supporters! I hope you all had a good festive break with your nearest & dearest.
Big challenge for us this weekend, but one we’ve shown we are capable of. Talbot obviously knocked us out of the West just a few weeks ago, and there were a few watching eyes at our Hurlford match on Friday night, so both teams know plenty about each other. We just need to ensure we turn up on the day & make the best account of ourselves we can.
Great to see a bumper crowd turn out for the Friday night football against Hurlford, a good sign to see queues outside the ground still with 10 minutes of the game gone. Very reassuring that we are doing something right & that our supporters are getting right behind the players, just frustrated we couldn’t get the result that support deserved. I’m sorry I missed it through illness, I’ve been in the house with a bug most of the festive period sadly. Back out refreshed for the New Year hopefully.
Best wishes go out to Nicky Doc, who suffered a serious injury last Friday. He’s made quite an impression since joining & we can only hope it isn’t as bad as the initial diagnosis as he awaits scans. Troon as a club would like to thank firstly our own Darrell Dunscombe for his attention on the night & also to Hurlford’s Sam Taha for his assistance, even waiting til the ambulance left late into the night. Both men are a credit to themselves & their clubs.
Let’s make 2024 a strong year for Troon & push the club on to the next level together.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Auchinleck Talbot Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The ‘Bot |
| Founded | 1909 |
| Ground | Beechwood Park, Auchinleck |
| Capacity | 4,000 (500 seated) |
| Club President | Morton Wright |
| Manager | Tommy Sloan |
| Captain | Gareth Armstrong |
| 2022-23 | WOSFL Premier Division, 2nd from 16 |
⚽️️ ROSS SMITH ⚽️
Former Kilmarnock man Ross may have only just turned 20, but he has already proven himself this season to be a reliable attacking spark in the Talbot front line.
His goals & creativity are key to Talbot, but his tenacity & work-rate keeps the side on the front foot as he leads the charge from the front.
⚽️️ CONNOR BOYD ⚽️
26 year old Connor was a summer signing from Irvine Meadow XI, as part of Tucker’s new look Talbot side this term.
Connor spent his formative years in the Kilmarnock Pro-Youth set-up, before spending time at Drongan United and more recently Hurlford Thistle before moving to Meadow Park in 2020.
With Talbot looking to replace the goals of Graham Wilson, Keir Samson & our own Mark Shankland, the weight of goal scoring has fallen squarely on Connor’s shoulders. He has 9 goals in 22 games so far this season.
© Thanks to our club photographer Graeme McKenzie for his photos – amazing, as always!
Auchinleck Talbot
| WON | WON | LOST | WON | WON |
| 1-4 | 4-1 | 3-0 | 1-0 | 1-3 |
| Vale of Leven (A) | Troon (H) | Broxburn Athletic (A) | Largs Thistle (H) | Cumnock (A) |
| Sat 16th December | Sat 9th December | Sat 18th November | Weds 15th November | Sat 11th November |
| Scottish Junior Cup | WOSFL Cup (Round 3) | South Challenge Cup | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier |
Troon F.C.
| LOST | WON | LOST | WON | WON |
| 0-2 | 3-4 | 4-1 | 5-1 | 3-2 |
| Hurlford United (H) | Largs Thistle (A) | Auchinleck Talbot (A) | Girvan (H) | Thornton Hibs (H) |
| Fri 29th December | Sat 16th December | Sat 9th December | Sat 25th November | Sat 18th November |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Cup (Round 3) | WOSFL Cup (Round 2) | South Challenge Cup |
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 (I’m not calling it X yet):
- 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
It was very fine margins between the sides last term, in two very exciting encounters.
In an entertaining first encounter of last season at Portland Park, a really hard-fought encounter looked to be playing out to a draw, only for a Graham Wilson goal to send Troon heading home deflated.
The return match in April under the Beechwood floodlights was yet another close encounter. A cheeky Jaime Gallagher “panenka” penalty deservedly opening the scoring for the Seasiders, only to see that man Graham Wilson pop up again with an equaliser.
(before this week’s matches)
| REFEREE: | ||
| Ross Menzies | ||
| Assistant Referee 1: | Assistant Referee 2: | |
| Gary Robertson | Kai Hannah |
| Referee Observer: | To be appointed |
🚌 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚌
Due to the close proximity, there will be no official supporter’s bus this week.
🚍 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗕𝗨𝗦 🚏
🔗 STAGECOACH.com
🚝 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 🚉
🔗 SCOTRAIL.co.uk
Tickets are available at the turnstiles at Beechwood Park:
| Adult: | £8.00 |
| Concession: | £5.00 |
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.
⚽️ Rossvale versus Troon Development Team ⚽️
Friday 12th January 2024
WOSFDL Clyde Cup 1st Round
Huntershill Sports Complex, Ayr
Kick-off 8pm
Head along & support the Troon stars of tomorrow!
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Cumnock⚽️
Saturday 13th January 2024
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 2pm