Whitletts Victoria 0 Rossvale Juniors 3
Scottish Juniors Western Region - Championship
I’m still trying to get my head around the Scottish Juniors
set up, to be fair though, I think I’ve come a long way in the past twelve
months, at least now I don’t have to scratch my head as to why the travelling
fraternity seemed to get so excited at what I perceived to be kids football!
I’ve concluded that the Western Region, which is kind of
Glasgow and Ayrshire, is the best when it comes to the standard of football and
the grounds. The Eastern Region might have had a counter argument but since the
bulk of them have buggered off to the Senior set up, it’s lost any debate it
might have once had.
So, day two of the Scottish venture and I had some choices,
I could have gone to the big game between Clydebank and Auchinleck Talbot, but
I went to Maryhill earlier in the season. I could have gone to Renfrew against
league leaders Hurlford United, but it was a bit of a swine by public transport
(ie 45 mins on a bus!), and it’s a plastic pitch that could come in handy one day.
Whitletts Victoria, once I’d found out exactly where that
was, against Rossvale Juniors, in the second tier, was the choice I plumped
for, with numerous factors behind it. Firstly, it would give me a chance to
take the train down to Ayr (in the same time it would take to get to Renfrew),
a place I’ve never visited, and secondly it was only a ten minute walk from the
railway station.
Finally, it was an 8pm kick off so it gave me plenty of time
to take in the journey and sample some local hostelries.
A pleasant journey it was too, travelling out via Paisley,
through Johnstone, down to Kilwinning and then on to the coast through Troon,
Irvine, Prestwick, before finally arriving in Ayr. Some beautiful scenery could
be witnessed, while the homes of Troon Juniors, Irvine Victoria, Ayr United and
of course the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in Troon, all sat adjacent to the
train line.
Once in Ayr, I headed for the ‘Drouthy Neebors’ bar which sits
opposite the station. Clearly a foreigner, I was made most welcome and enjoyed
a couple of pints of the finest Tennants before thinking about heading to the
ground.
Whitletts is an area of Ayr that sits on the North East side
of town, quite close to the racecourse. The ground is called Dam Park, and it’s
effectively an athletics stadium that’s linked to the adjacent University. The
stadium isn’t in Whitletts, it’s pretty central to the town, just over the
river and to the right, it’s a fairly short walk to be fair.
I left my arrival until a few minutes before kick off, and
having paid my £6 admission fee, I took the time to have a look around the place.
The main stand is a large brutalist concrete structure with plastic seats attached
to the steps. Underneath are the dressing rooms, and a tea bar / bar area that
was well populated.
In front of the stand was some steps of terracing, but other
than that, it was your typical athletics stadium. Because of the height of the stand
though, the views were good, and this counter acted the fact that it was a good
distance to the pitch, over the running track.
Whitletts sat in mid-table, whereas the visitors from
Glasgow are fighting for third spot and promotion, with both Benburb and
Rutherglen Glencairn having promotion in the bag and now battling neck and neck
for the title.
Rossvale took the lead in the 35th minute through
Chris Duff who steered home a cross from the left hand side. Despite being the better side, it took some time
before the points were sealed though, an 83rd minute effort from Matt Niven
made the game safe when he finished from close range after a header had been
parried.
Five minutes before the final whistle, Marc McKenzie made it
3-0 when the goalkeeper and the defence suffered a complete lack of communication,
putting the Rossvale player clean through on goal, with no one to beat!
So, three points in the bag, and the Rossvale supporters,
who made up a large chunk of the attendance which I would estimate at around
80, travelled North, knowing they sat in the promotion places, with a big game
to come at the weekend against Rutherglen.
The train back to Glasgow, was quiet, a light snooze was
taken, until a rabble of teenagers boarded at Johnstone to destroy the tranquillity.
One more trip this football season beckons in May, a whole host
of games are options, but to be fair, the Scottish Juniors has yet to
disappoint, and that’s probably why those of us South of Hadrians Wall seem to
flock in droves to watch it.
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