KILWINNING RANGERS (Abbey Park)

SJFA WEST SUPERLEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, KILWINNING RANGERS 0-0 HURLFORD UNITED, ATTENDANCE: 250 (est)

In what seems to rapidly becoming a tradition at this time of year, I headed North of the Border for my football fix. Destination this afternoon was Kilwinning in North Ayrshire. 

When the trip was originally mooted with three other football travellers, Killwinning were in with a shot of the title. However with a few untimely draws, the title appears to have slipped through their fingers unless other results go their way. Another reason for visiting is there are whispers that the club may be on the move (click here) due to proposals of the Scottish Junior joining the pyramid, meaning it is unlikely Abbey Park will meet the ground criteria in it's current form.

The ground, to be frank, resembles a building site at the moment with plenty of work going on. Whether this is any indication that the club plan to remain here, who knows? The old sleeper terraces have been removed and alongside the touchline there is a grass bank and flat standing whilst behind one of the goals there are new concrete steps. This complements the stand behind one goal and the main stand, which is essentially an overhang from a couple of portacabins. The ground certainly has character and is a lot more interesting than a 3G pitch in a cage.

The game was a hard fought affair, especially in the baking hot conditions, but in truth neither side created any real clear cut chances and it was no surprise in the end that it finished goalless. Unfortunately for the Buffs, title rivals Auchinleck lost to Pollok meaning a victory for The Buffs would have kept them in the hunt. However due to their inferior goal difference this draw has effectively ended their title dreams. 

The ruins of Kilwinning Abbey can be seen from the ground, hence the name
Abbey Park. The Abbey dates from around 1162 - 1168 and features prominently on the club badge.

I must give a special mention to the Buffs Steak and Sausage Pie,
which was excellent! Steady The Buffs!

ARDEER THISTLE (Ardeer Stadium)

WEST REGION AYRSHIRE DISTRICT LEAGUE, ARDEER THISTLE 4-2 WHITLETTS VICTORIA, ATTENDANCE: 79 (h/c)

Another surprise today
was the availability of
a programme. An
excellent read and
clearly a labour of love.

Today was a long planned trip north of the border, with an intended stopover in Penrith en route home, in order to have a wee drink with a motley crew of fellow groundhoppers.

Penrith has been our rest stop every time we return from Scotland and it has been a long standing joke that, due to the large number of pubs in the town, we should book a hotel and have a night on the ale.

When, last year, one of our party was diagnosed with cancer it was decided that once he was back on his feet after surgery then the time would finally be right to have that night out in the town.

It was also right that it was his call for which game would be the afternoons entertainment. However, the atrocious wet weather that had battered the country overnight Friday into Saturday certainly threw a spanner into the selection process.

Prior to setting off, the unanimous choice of game was Maryhill v Linlithgow in the Scottish Junior Cup, but that bit the dust (for the third week in a row incidentally) so an alternative had to be sought. As we crossed the border into Scotland we still had no firm idea of where we were heading.

Reading tweets from various clubs in the area it seemed that the Ayrshire coast had avoided the worst of the deluge so, after consultation between the various hoppers heading up the motorway, it was decided that Ardeer Thistle was the destination of choice.

Once a town in it's own right, Ardeer now forms part of the town of Stevenston and was famous for the manufacturing of explosives. Established in 1871 by Alfred Noble, he of the Noble prize, the British Dynamite Factory employed 13,000 people at its peak but has long since closed.

The company became part of ICI in the 1920's and the Ardeer Stadium was the company's recreation ground and was home to the now defunct Ardeer Recreation FC. In the 1970's Ardeer Thistle moved into the vacant ground and it has been their home ever since.

Formed in 1900, this is Thistle's second home in the town. They moved here because their original Ardchoille Park home suffered from vandalism, effectively leaving them homeless.

The Ardeer Stadium is another fine example of a Scottish Junior ground with a small piece of cover and vast open terracing. I have said it many times, you just don't get grounds like this south of the border as the health and safety brigade would probably have a fit!

The club compete in the West Region Ayrshire District League, which is the third level of this regional set up.

Today Ardeer were hosting Whitletts Victoria just two weeks after they last played each other at Dam Park, where Ardeer won 3-2. Whitletts are in the hunt for promotion, lying in second place at the start of play, whilst Ardeer are ensconced in mid-table. A victory was probably of greater significance for the visitors.

Both teams went for it from the off with chances at either end but the first goal didn't arrive until the 36th minute, triggering a spell of 5 goals in 18 minutes.

A Ryan Morrow penalty (pictured left) gave Ardeer the lead before he doubled their advantage just a minute later with a fine strike from outside the box.

In the 41st minute Whitletts were awarded a penalty of their own and Tony Balfour duly converted (pictured right).

Right on half time though the Whitletts defence failed to clear the ball and, as it fell loose in box, Lee Munro smashed it home.

The game was effectively over in the 54th minute when David Henry headed home a superb cross to score Ardeer's fourth. The pace of the game dipped after this though Ardeer had chances to extend their lead.

Whitletts did reduce the deficit in the 84th minute when Niall Kennedy fired home the rebound after his initial penalty was saved by Paul McGann (pictured right).

In stoppage time, Whitletts' Munya Mbanje was sent off for retaliating to a bad tackle and, in the melee that followed,  Ardeer's previously substituted Jack Robertson was also 'sent off' for running onto the pitch and appearing to aim a punch at a Vic's player. An unsavoury ending to a very fine match.

The players observe a minutes silence prior to kick off for
former Ardeer physio Sammy McKee, who passed away recently.

IRVINE VICTORIA (Victoria Park)

AYRSHIRE CHALLENGE CUP SEMI-FINAL, IRVINE VICTORIA 1-5 AUCHINLECK TALBOT, ATTENDANCE: 310 (h/c)

My end of season trips North of the Border continued today with a journey to the Ayrshire coast. Irvine Victoria were hosting Auchinleck Talbot in an Ayrshire Cup semi-final clash, for the right to play Hurlford United in the final.

Formed in 1904, Irvine Victoria have been at their Cochrane Street home since 1937, the ground is now known as Victoria Park. They are most certainly the towns second team behind rivals Irvine Meadow.

The ground is basically two sided with a couple of bits of terracing behind one goal and a couple of bits of cover down one touchline. The other touchline is tight up against a railway embankment. The ground is quite ramshackle, I thought it looked absolutely fanstastic!

Irvine Victoria were Ayrshire District League Champions in 2014 but after just one season in the Super League First Division they have been relegated back to the District League. In contrast visitors Auchinleck have won the Super League Premier Division for the third year in a row and will also play Musselburgh Athletic in the Junior Cup Final next weekend.

On paper, this looked a formality for The Bots, especially after a midweek 7-0 win over Kilbirnie in the last round. So it proved.

Auchinleck were 2-0 up at the break, thanks to goals from Brian Young and Mark Shankland, and looked threatening everytime they went forward.

The Vics tried their hardest and did carve out a few half chances but further second half goals from Shankland, who completed a hat-trick, and Graham Wilson cemented the victory for Auchinleck. If it wasn't for the superb performance in goal of Victoria's player of the season Chris Lamb, the score may have been at least double what it was.

Irvine Victoria did get themselves on the scoresheet with virtually the last kick of the game when David Adams picked himself up to score from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Andrew Leishman, who was also sent off.

GLENAFTON ATHLETIC (Loch Park)

WEST OF SCOTLAND CUP SEMI-FINAL, GLENAFTON ATHLETIC 3-2 ARTHURLIE, ATTENDANCE: 281

As seems to be the norm, the last few weeks of the season can be stretched out with visits North of the Border, as the Junior season complete their usual backlog of fixtures. This year is no exception and, with fixtures scheduled for the next three Saturday's, season 2012/13 can safely be extended into June.

Today was a trip to New Cumnock, in Ayrshire, recently 'voted' as Scotland's most dismal town http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-21955916 though I found the views around this former mining town rather pleasant in the late May sunshine.

Formed in 1930, the club played on a colliery pitch until moving to the purpose built Loch Park in 1960. The ground is situated on land close to where the "Afton Water flows gently" into the River Nith.

The ground is just off the main road in the town and has a large main stand and rest is terracing, though most of this is overgrown, giving a sense of age to what is not, in football terms, a very old ground.

Both Glenafton and Arthurlie compete in the West of Scotland Superleague Premier Division, finishing the season in 4th and 6th place respectively. Three points separated the teams in the final table and Arthurlie won the league encounter at Loch Park back in September.

However Glenafton were not to be denied today and they won through to the final by the odd goal in five, despite playing the second half with 10 men.

Glenafton took control from the kick off and Ryan Millar gave the homesters the lead after six minutes before Ross Robertson doubled their lead after 12.

James Marks headed home after 42 minutes to halve the deficit, then right on the stroke of half time Jack Steele was given a straight red card for a challenge on 'Lie goalkeeper Kevin Macklin.

As expected with a  man advantage, Arthurlie came out for the second half all guns blazing and it was no surprise when Stephen McKeown equalised after 55 minutes. However rather than being the catalyst for a 'Lie victory the game swung back in favour of Glens and they created the better chances. With ten minutes remaining Gus Cochrane blasted home to book Glenafton's place in the final.

With "pit stops" in Dumfries and Auldgirth, it was a great day out, spent in great company.