Winton Rovers had some disappointing results in 1973.
LARGS THISTLE 6 – ARDROSSAN WINTON ROVERS 0
ON-FORM
LARGS HIT THEIR HIGHEST SCORE OF THE SEASON
Winton Rovers were humiliated at
Barrfields on Saturday (17 March 1973) and unceremoniously dismissed from the
Ayrshire District Cup when thrashed by bottom-of-the-league club, Largs Thistle.
To be fair, however, it should be said that
they made a promising start and gave the impression of being a business-like
combination but they never got the breaks.
Both teams served up a keen and entertaining
contest for half-an-hour with no scoring before strength and weakness became
apparent.
Thistle were masters in defence with full-backs
Flint and McKay in top form and Mackay a reliable keeper.
These three stalwarts provided a proverbial
iron curtain.
On the other hand, Rovers were weak in
defence and as pressure mounted, they found themselves confused and in disarray.
Inside-left Savage set the ball rolling for
Thistle when he tested keeper Dick then Kyle shot over the bar and Wright struck
an upright.
At the other end, Rovers
forced the first corner then inside-left Quinn scorned a golden opportunity when
he skied over the bar when a mere push would have served and left-winger Dickson
shot into the arms of keeper Mackay.
Thistle opened the score sheet in the
twenty-eighth minute when Eddie Kyle applied the finishing touches to a ball
teed-up for him by Peter Valerio.
Winton switched to attack and
Thistle’s goal was under siege for a time with centre-forward Lyons being a
conspicuous leader in the concentrated raid.
They were awarded a free kick during this
period of pressure and Mackay brought off a marvellous save from a direct shot
by left-winger Dickson.
Misfortune struck again when Thistle were
awarded a rather soft penalty when Kyle was brought down by Dalling.
Left-half McArthur took the spot-kick and
scored in the thirty-eighth minute to establish a 2-0 interval lead.
Success had inspired Thistle with confidence
and the team spirit became self-apparent.
They were reading the game and going for the
ball while the troubled waters were not running smoothly for Rovers
and they were unable to meet the challenge of the rampant forwards.
Willie McLellan opened the second half account
with a goal two minutes after the restart.
Kyle added another after twenty-five minutes
while Peter Valerio increased the lead five minutes later.
In the meantime, Cardno and Dickson had sent in
shots for Rovers but they were effectively dealt with, thus
denying them a crumb of consolation.
Worse was to come.
Kyle again struck the target to complete his
hat-trick and finalise the rout in Thistle’s highest score of the season.
Largs actually had the ball in the net another
time during the second half but the goal was disallowed for offside.
To the credit of Rovers, it
can be said that they were gallant in adversity, taking their lack of success
gracefully and without any display of ill-temper.
Thistle played with marked enthusiasm and in
addition to a rock-like rear division, they had a magnificent middle line with
Baillie, Telfer and McArthur, the last names being singularly constructive while
Kyle and McLellan were undaunted up front.
The
teams were:
Largs
Thistle – Mackay, Flint, McKay, Baillie, Telfer, McArthur, Wright, Kyle,
McLellan, Savage and Valerio.
Winton Rovers - Dick, Hay, McColl,
Sanderson, Hood, Dalling, Cardno, Lunan, Lyons, Quinn and Dickson.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 23 March 1973
KILBIRNIE LADESIDE 4 – ARDROSSAN WINTON ROVERS 2
KILBIRNIE DOMINATE CUP-TIE PLAY-OFF
Kilbirnie Ladeside finally got the better of Winton at
Valefield on Saturday (24 March 1973).
After two drawn games in the Ayrshire Cup, the
Valley side were never in any trouble against an under-par Winton.
It took Kilbirnie only five minutes to show
Winton they were in for no easy ride.
Ladeside were awarded a penalty which Dave
Clark coolly converted.
Five minutes later, Winton
were in deeper trouble as they began to feel the force of the Ladeside front
line.
Oliphant gathered the ball twenty yards out and sent
an unsaveable shot past keeper Ian Dick.
After this goal, it was all
one-way traffic towards the Winton goal but surprisingly
Ladeside could find no way through and so at the interval, they went in with a
comfortable lead. The manner in which this strong Valley side played in
the first half made it look obvious that it would not take long in the second
period to extend their lead.
The third goal came seven minutes after the
interval.
The ball was played to young Bobby Davidson and
the winger coolly beat a defender before placing the ball out of Dick’s reach.
Kilbirnie continued to press and in the
sixty-second minute, they got number four.
It was Davidson who
notched it with a stunning eighteen-yarder, hit on the drop.
Content with their four-goal lead, the home side began to relax and
this heralded a Winton fightback.
In the space of four minutes, Rovers
were awarded two penalty kicks.
Both were converted
by right-half Ronnie Sanderson and came as undeserved consolation goals to a
well-beaten side.
The teams were:
Kilbirnie Ladeside - Clark; Boyle, Oliphant, McLean,
Smith, Davidson, Lynn, Mulherron, Clarke and Kerr.
(Strangely, only ten
Kilbirnie players are listed in the newspaper report).
Winton Rovers - Dick; Hay, Baillie,
Sanderson, Hood, McColl, Rowan, Cardno, Dalling, Dickson and Quinn.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 30 March 1973
ARDROSSAN WINTON ROVERS
2 – KILBIRNIE LADESIDE 4
NEWCOMER STARS FOR LADESIDE
Remembering their many fine
encounters of last season, it was not surprising that a fair sized crowd turned
out to see this game (on 18 August 1973).
Kilbirnie took a
surprising lead in six minutes.
Close season signing Dave Paterson pushed a
free-kick to Kerr.
The winger beat full
back Hay and crossed to Bobby Davidson who side-footed the ball past
Winton’s
trialist goalkeeper.
The
homesters
much deserved equaliser came just after the half hour when veteran wing half
Ronnie Sanderson fired home a great volley from just outside the eighteen yard
line.
Unfortunately,
his efforts were in vain as right on the interval, Bobby Davidson strode through
the home defence to notch his second goal and his team’s third counter.
Although the
scoreline showed a difference of two goals, the game was much closer and if
Winton’s
young trialist keeper had not made that mistake just before the interval, the
home side could possibly have won the game.
The
teams were:
Winton Rovers – Newman, Hay, McColl,
Sanderson, Welsh, Paul Clarke, Quinn, Evans, Jim Clarke, Cardno and Lunan.
Kilbirnie Ladeside - Clark; Brock, Kennedy, Osbourne,
McLean, Smith, Davidson, Paterson, Mulherron, Dave Clarke and Kerr.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 24 August 1973