In season 1969-70, Winton Rovers had a successful run in the Scottish Junior Cup and reached the semi-final which they lost to the eventual winners.


KILWINNING RANGERS 3 – ARDROSSAN WINTON ROVERS 7
Rovers’ Late Spurt Swamps Buffs

This was a game (played on 5 April 1969) in which anything could have happened.  Rovers were always the more professional outfit but at times the play was lackadaisical and a Kilwinning team, full of triers, plugged on hopefully.  Both teams where without the regular goalkeepers.  Rangers fielded left-back Cunningham in goal and Winton’s guardian was one of the forwards, Shedden.  Winton went straight into action and a good close range short from Conway put them into the lead after only thirty seconds.  Buffs were obviously struggling to find their feet after this early setback and before they had time to recover, Dorman added a second goal with the well-timed shot from the edge of the box.  The tables turned after this and Buffs assumed the role of attackers and piled on the pressure.  Against the run of play, the visitors went further ahead.  Dorman burst through the home defence and when confronted by Cunningham, miskicked but the fluke ‘shot’ sent the keeper the wrong way and the ball rolled over the goal-line.  Corrigan put a better face on things for the home side when he gave Shedden no chance with a powerful shot from a goalmouth melee.  Then Kilwinning came more into the game and Train had a thirty-yard drive headed round the post.  In one scramble in the Winton goalmouth, the ball was scrambled of the line three times with Shedden well out of his charge.  White replaced McAtee at centre and minutes later, Gerry Quinn, Buffs’ hard-working left-back, was carried off with an ankle injury, leaving the home side with only ten men.  White raised the Kilwinning side’s hopes of getting a draw when he headed home after a Train shot had hit the bar but three goals in four minutes for Rovers shattered any illusions Buffs had of taking a point from this game.  Conway took advantage of a bad mix-up between Gorman and Cunningham and had no difficulty in shooting home.  Ellingham made it 6-3 when he hit a cracker of a shot into the roof of the night from all of forty yards.  Winton’s trialist inside-right finished the scoring when he scrambled the ball over the line.  The teams were:
Kilwinning Rangers - Cunningham; Train and Quinn; McCauley, Gorman and Young; J McCulloch, M McCulloch, McAtee, Williams and Corrigan.
Winton Rovers - Shedden; West and McCann; Margison, Newman and Ellingham; McGarrity, Newman, Conway, Dorman and McGinnigle.


            Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 11 April 1969

ARDROSSAN WINTON ROVERS 2 – BEITH JUNIORS 1
Rovers Beat Beith in a Thriller

This was a first-class cup-tie, played (on 29 November 1969) by two good sides both of whom can take great credit for some excellent and entertaining football played under slippery conditions.  Winton were out to show Beith that they were not overawed by their recent 6-3 defeat at Winton Park in the league.  Beith started briskly but Winton came right back and set the game alight with a fine opportunist goal in twelve minutes by outside-left Corrigan.  The move started with Robertson sending a defence-splitting pass through to Sneddon and when the centre’s low cross came over, Corrigan slipped the ball into the net.  Back came Beith with Barbour and Cairns having good tries saved by Watson.  The visitors’ best chance of the first-half fell to Reid, who had earlier been injured.  He beat the Winton defence but shot over from only a few yards out.  At the other end Craik had to look lively to hold a spectacular overhead kick from Conway and then to turn a fierce Gemmell shot over the bar.  The half-time whistle came with both teams creating good scoring chances but some bad finishing and sterling defensive work, with both centre-halves McCann and Young prominent, kept the score down.  After the break’ the pattern of the match remained the same with both teams giving all they had and indeed Beith almost equalised but Mcllroy and then Cairns and Copland missed good chances.  These proved costly misses as Winton broke away on the left and gained a corner.  Corrigan’s well-flighted kick caught the Beith defence out and Sneddon scored his side’s second and decisive goal from close range.  Beith substituted Hay for Cairns but it was Winton who almost added a third when a Welsh shot from twenty-five yards just carried over Craik’s bar.  Beith’s goal in seventy-eight minutes was an unlucky blow for Welsh who deflected Reid’s fierce shot from the wing past his own keeper - a sad blow for this young wing-half who had been playing extremely well.  Mcllroy almost snatched a late equaliser when he ran through from a suspiciously offside position but shot weakly at Watson.  Best for the visitors were Dalling, McCann and Waite in defence with Copland an excellent leader.  For the home side, Young, McEwan and Welsh stood out in defence with Corrigan and Gemmell the pick of the forwards.

The teams were:
Winton Rovers - Watson; Robertson and McGarrity; McEwan, Young and Welsh; Gemmell, Lee, Sneddon, Conway and Corrigan.
Beith - Craik; O’Sullivan and Waite; Gibson, McCann and Dalling; Reid, Barbour, Copland, Cairns and Mcllroy.
           
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 12 December 1969

DEATH OF FORMER WINTON ROVERS PLAYER
A former Winton Rovers player, Billy Mack, died last week.  He played at right-back from 1925 to 1935 and won several honours with the club as well as playing in the Junior Cup semi-final against Benburb in 1934.  A cultured player, Mack was a great favourite at Winton Park and, after the war, his son also played for the team for a season.  He was a native of Paisley but, after the war, he settled in Stevenston and was employed at Imperial Chemical Industries until he retired.  Representatives of Winton Rovers attended the funeral on Saturday (6 December 1969) and a silent tribute was paid in his memory before the start of the Winton Rovers-Ardeer Thistle match.
            Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 12 December 1969