After disappointing results for both sides on Saturday, Troon look forward to hosting Auchinleck Talbot & a visit from Tommy Sloan‘s new-look side on Wednesday for our 5th WOSFL Premier Division match of the season.
⚽️ Troon F.C. versus Auchinleck Talbot ⚽️
Wednesday 12th August 2023
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Portland Park, Troon
Kick-off 7.30pm
Jimmy Kirkwood’s men had a confident start to the season following a positive pre-season, beating Stewarton, Glenrothes & Maybole and draws against Hutchison Vale & Ayr United. The side looked solid & only conceded 1 goal in 5 matches, scoring 10 in the process.
The league campaign began well with confident wins over Irvine Meadow and Glenafton Athletic, but two frustrating defeats against Largs last week & Hurlford on Saturday will serve to re-focus the minds in the home dressing room this week, and the coaching staff will be keen to put them behind us and get our season back on track.
It’s been a summer of real change in East Ayrshire, as Talbot waved goodbye to a number of club legends & important players. Multiple league & Scottish Cup winners Andy Leishman, Graham Wilson, Mark Shankland, Keir Samson, Lewis Crawford, Chris Stafford, Aaron Mason, Ross Taylor, Jamie Ballantyne and Ryan Sinnamon all departed Beechwood in the summer to mark a season of transition under Tommy Sloan. New signings have entered the building, which will certainly bring the average age of the squad down, and the Talbot hierarchy will hope there are some new legends in the making amongst them.
They’ve suffered a difficult start to the season, with 1 win from 4 games, and will equally be looking at Wednesday as an opportunity to garner points.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Wednesday’s match…
Todd Henderson has joined Girvan on loan to get some game time & complete his comeback from a knee injury, and we will be keeping a close eye on his progress at Hamilton Park.
Logan Smith misses out as he continues to get treatment after being forced off early in the win over Irvine Meadow with a knock, while Raymond Montgomerie is continuing his rehabilitation from ankle surgery at the end of last season. He will soon be back in contention, but no other major concerns apart from that.
It’s a big week for us now, there’s no getting away from that.
I keep getting told that this isn’t the same Auchinleck Talbot that we’ve seen over the last few years, but I’m not buying that just yet – there’s still the culture of winning up there & you still have class acts like Neill McPherson & Gareth Armstrong up there, so they’re a top, top side still. Huge challenge, but one we’ve never shirked from. Follow that up with last season’s Scottish Junior Cup holders, so that makes for a challenging 7 days.
From my perspective, it has to become about us: what we do & how we do it. Already this season (and it’s still early August), we’ve seen the best & the worst of what we can do, and we have to do better than that. We all need to do better.
Jimmy Kirkwood (Manager)
| Full Name | Auchinleck Talbot Football Club |
| Nickname(s) | The ‘Bot |
| Founded | 1909 |
| Ground | Beechwood Park, Auchinleck |
| Capacity | 4,000 |
| President | Morton Wright |
| Manager | Tommy Sloan |
| Captain | Kieran Healy |
| 2022-23 | WOSFL Premier Division, 2nd from 16 |
⚽️️ NEIL SLOOVES ⚽️
28 year old Neil was a summer signing from Irvine Meadow, and very much fits into the style of centre-back Tommy Sloan has specialised in during his time at Talbot.
An Ayr United youth graduate, Neil spent some time in America on a scholarship before playing professionally in Iceland, and eventually staying at Meadow Park for a few seasons.
⚽️️ CONNOR BOYD ⚽️
26 year old Connor was another signing from Irvine Meadow in the summer, 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 will certainly fall on Connor’s shoulders.
© Thanks to Craig McGhee and Auchinleck Talbot for their images
Troon F.C.
| LOST | LOST | WON | WON | DREW |
| 3-1 | 1-5 | 1-3 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
| Hurlford United | Largs Thistle | Glenafton Athletic | Irvine Meadow XI | Ayr United (H) |
| Sat 12th August | Sat 5th August | Tue 1st August | Sat 29th July | Sat 22nd July |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | Dean Keenan Benefit |
Auchinleck Talbot
| LOST | WON | LOST | LOST | WON |
| 1-2 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1-0 | 3-2 |
| Darvel (H) | Gartcairn (A) | St. Cadoc’s (H) | Pollok (A) | Johnstone Burgh (H) |
| Sat 12th August | Sat 5th August | Wed 2nd August | Sat 29th July | Wed 19th July |
| WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | WOSFL Premier | 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:
- 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)
| Match Referee: | ||
| Regan Wallace | ||
| Assistant Referee 1: | Assistant Referee 2: | |
| Kai Skeoch | Sean Welsh |
| Referee Observer: | Still to be appointed |
Tickets are available at the turnstiles at Portland Park:
| Adult: | £8.00 |
| Concession: | £4.00 |
| Under-16: | FREE |
Season Tickets are valid for this game.
Season Tickets can also be purchased inside the clubhouse before the match, and can be paid by cash or by debit/credit card.
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.
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 & stay late – enjoy the football on the big screen! 📺
| ⏰ 8pm | Manchester City v Sevilla | (UEFA Super Cup) ⚽️ |
The bar will close after 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.
Our local resident food truck, SCRAN have our hungry supporters covered with their own take on “Football Food” – highly recommended!
They will be open from 10am on Saturday & will be open right through the match til the evening, selling a variety of hot food & drinks as well as cold drinks.
⚽️ Troon Development Team versus Girvan ⚽️
Friday 18th August 2023
Player Data WOSFDL League Cup (Section 14)
QMA Sports Campus, Ayr
Kick-off 8pm
Head along & support the Troon stars of tomorrow!
⚽️ Cumnock versus Troon F.C. ⚽️
Saturday 19th August 2023
PDM Huws Gray WOSFL Premier Division
Townhead Park, Cumnock
Kick-off 2pm