Steady The Buffs

Kilwinning Rangers  0  Auchinleck Talbot  1

Scottish Juniors Western Region - Premiership

It was the stand out fixture on a night of many choices in the West of Scotland.

Kilwinning Rangers were playing their last ever game at the famous Abbey Park ground, while the fellow Ayrshire visitors are arguably the biggest name in Junior football, and arrived knowing a victory would be another step towards the Premiership crown and a potential double with the Junior Cup Final just around the corner.

Another trip North of the border was soon upon me, and this time I had a compatriot in the shape of my colleague Andrew, who was to ultimately join me at the game. On a wet and windy day, Glasgow was reached by just gone 4.30pm, and shortly after that we were firmly camped in Wetherspoons having fun with the App and the Meal Deals!

Kilwinning is reached easily from Glasgow Central station, trains run frequently to Ardrossan Harbour and our port of call takes around half an hour. By just after 6pm we were alighting just West of the town centre.

Located around twenty miles south of Glasgow, with a population of just over 20,000, Kilwinning became a designated part of ‘Irvine New Town’ in 1966 and with new housing estates springing up, it became something of an overspill for ‘Glasgae’.

The football club has something of a rich history, becoming the first ever Ayrshire winners of the Junior Cup in 1909. Another first came in 2004 when they became the first Ayrshire side to win the West Super League (which became the Premiership). The clubs fortunes declined after this and a couple of relegations were suffered, but two promotions in the middle of the current decade saw them return to top flight status, where they remain.

It’s a fifteen minute walk to the ground from the railway station, and as we arrived it became apparent that a good sized crowd was going to be in attendance for the historic final game, before a move to Kilwinning Sports Centre at the start of next season.

Interestingly, the programme editor, while not going as far as stating it directly, suggested in his notes that he was unhappy about the direction the club was going in, and as a result his efforts for the club would be ceasing at the end of the campaign. I assumed by ‘direction’ he meant one of two things, geographical or strategic, or possibly even both. Either way, he wasn’t a happy bunny!

Abbey Park is a proper old Junior ground, with no seats, but a couple of areas of cover. One area sits raised behind the West goal, while the other is just in front of the clubhouse on the South side. Otherwise it’s standing only out in the open, but the other two sides of the ground are banked so provide excellent views of proceedings. No floodlights at the ground as is the norm, but the pitch was in superb condition.

With a swift can of Tennents downed in the club, it was time to see what fare was on offer. To be fair, Auchinleck, or ‘The Bot’ as they are known, who were backed by a large following, were favourites to get the points, with just one defeat to their name all season in the league.

Talbot won the league four times on the bounce from 2013 to 2016, while the Junior Cup has been won six times in thirteen seasons. Junior sides have only recently been admitted to the Scottish FA Cup, 2009 to be precise, and in that time they’ve reached the Third Round twice, the Fourth Round and then the Fifth Round this season when they lost 4-0 to Hearts after beating Championship full timers Ayr United in the Fourth Round.

In short, they are no mugs!

Tonight was about Kilwinning though, and they did a great job of creating a fitting finale for Abbey Park in terms of the publicity and the local engagement. I would estimate a crowd of around 500 was in the ground at kick off, but when it came to the entertainment on the field, to be honest it wasn’t really befitting of the occasion.

The Buffs, as Kilwinning are known, with the strapline ‘Steady The Buffs’, battled away, but in a game of few chances it was a goal just before half time from Talbot that essentially sealed the three points. The visitors clearly know how to win games when not playing especially well, the mark of champions I guess, but what they do very well is really limit the opposition in terms of chances.

At the final whistle on an increasingly cold night, it was a steady walk to the station before a train black to Glasgow, which saw us back the Spoons before 10pm, just in time to watch Spurs grab the now legendary winner at the Amsterdam Arena.

That’s Scotland over for this season now, and what a great place to round the season off, at a proper old Junior club and ground, and reading between the lines, it will be a loss.

But, a chance has now arisen to head back again next season to Kilwinning, while those more knowledgeable than me will probably tell me it won’t quite be the same. I’ll be open minded though, and, with much talk about the Western Juniors moving into the Scottish football pyramid, maybe a new ground with the appropriate facilities is what they need if progression is on the agenda.

It's all about direction though, and that is quite apparent, what is also apparent is some people don't like a change of direction, and in the West of Scotland, some things are seemingly sacrosanct....