Ardrossan Winton Rovers Archive

 

Darvel Juniors 2
Ardrossan Winton Rovers 3

Stagecoach Ayrshire League

WINTON had to dig deep to snatch victory after going 2-0 down in the second half.

It was a fairly miserable day at Darvel with poor overhead and underfoot conditions to play football on.

Darvel took the initiative with the strong wind at their back but had possession rather than chances.

Winton's first effort came on 15 minutes when Muir put McAvoy through but Roseburgh saved his low shot well.

Darvel began to press a bit more as the first half progressed and a corner was headed over but Rovers saw a low corner of their own fall to Brian Wallace and his low drive was deflected off a ruck of players before the ball was cleared.

Winton seemed to be lacking in a bit of confidence as their passing wasn't great albiet not helped by a sticky surface.

Darvel seemed to feed from this and on 35 minutes Fulton got clear on the right and put in a great ball to Lynn but Paul Brown did really well to slide in and clear the ball over his own bar. Lynn almost made up for this when on 38 minutes he hit a free-kick from 25 yards that just went over Stevie O'Neill's crossbar.

Darvel kept pressing and O'Neill looked lively to tip a Ryan Drummond shot past his near post on 38 minutes.

Winton, however did start the second half a bit better and with the wind at their backs their first effort saw a good Paton cross come off a Darvel defender as McAvoy threatened.

McAvoy and Patrick combined in 50 minutes and the big striker saw a shot fly over the bar.

Darvel were not out of the game and after their good first half showing they took the lead on 52 minutes when a poor crossfield pass saw Wallace exposed and Lynn ran on, drew O'Neill and calmly finished for 1-0 to the home side. Darvel went 2-0 up 10 minutes later when Fulton took a ball on the edge of the box, turned Easton and sent a low drive into the bottom corner of the net.

Darvel hadn't won all season and by now their tails were up and could have extended their lead on 65 minutes when King's header was saved by O'Neill but at the expense of a corner.

But 2-0 is a funny lead and the turning point in this game came in 71 minutes when again Winton simply gave the ball away in midfield and R Drummond ran one on one with O'Neill but he lost his composure and scooped the ball over the bar.

Despite this you always had the feeling that if Winton scored then the game could all change and on 75 minutes Winton did just that when Muir set up Quinn on the right and he used his trickery to cut inside and get a good shot across the goal which Roseburgh parried but Colin Frye, making his Winton debut for the third time, poked the loose ball home from six yards.

Winton were buoyed by this and two minutes later Stephen McAvoy fired in a brilliant dipping shot from 25 yards which beat Roseburgh all ends up and Winton were suddenly level.

Rovers were now scenting victory at this stage and on 85 minutes they got the all important third when a mistake in the Darvel defence saw Frye get one on one with Roseburgh and he showed good feet to get past the big goalie and knock home the winner.

Darvel: Roseburgh, Donaghy, Lindsay, Holland, Kirkwood, McLaughlan, J Drummond, R Drummond, Fulton, King, Lynn.
Subs: West, Bell, Stewart, McGillvary.

WINTON: O'Neill, Wilson, Brown, Wallace, Easton, Montgomerie,
Paton, McAvoy, Patrick, Muir.
Subs: Adam, Shanks, Quinn, Milliken, Gray.

 

This match report has been reproduced by kind permission the editor, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald.