Winton Rovers had a good team in 1988.
WINTON ROVERS 3 - SALTCOATS VICTORIA 0
Saltcoats adapted quickly to the very heavy
conditions and had the better of the early play (on 9 January 1988).
The home side were awarded a free-kick twenty
yards out in the seventeenth minute but Jewell's effort went inches over the
bar.
Just ten minutes later, a good Vics attack saw Ricky
Smith go close with a diving header from a young cross.
The first half ended with two good Saltcoats
attacks.
Mcllroy had a shot well saved then the same player
struck the crossbar from close range.
Having survived the first half, Winton
looked the more determined side after the break and finally opened the scoring
in sixty-five minutes.
A good pass from Murray fell to McColl on the edge of the box and his shot beat
Docherty.
Vics almost equalised but Hume shot straight
at Graham from eighteen yards.
Two minutes from time, Winton
increased their lead when Cruikshanks’ pass sent Orr clear and he slipped his
shot past Docherty.
On their next attack, Winton
were awarded a penalty when the keeper fouled Murray and Bell converted the spot
kick.
Winton Rovers - Graham, Ferguson, Malcolmson,
Halley, Jewell, McColl, Bell, Laurie, Kane, McKechnie and Orr with substitutes
Cruikshanks and Murray.
Saltcoats Victoria - Docherty, Gray, Young,
McGeachie, Pearson, Ferguson, R Smith, Hume, McIlroy, Greening and W Smith with
substitutes G Smith and Inglis.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 15 January 1988
Rovers survived a second half penalty miss to take the points
at
Winton Park (on 16 January
1988).
The game got off to a bright start with both keepers
being tested early on.
The first chance fell to Winton’s
Orr but Magee smothered his effort well.
Two minutes later, Winton’s
keeper Graham managed to tip a Gilhooley shot over his bar.
Simpson netted an Orr pass in the tenth minute
but was judged offside by the referee.
The pace of the game slowed after this but in
the twenty-fifth minute, Martin got on to a loose ball and saw his shot
deflected by Graham into the path of Greig who failed to control and missed
an-open goal.
Winton’s opener came in
fifty-two minutes when Orr knocked in a pass to Donnelly and the centre turned
his marker and slotted past. Magee.
Within two minutes Winton
were further ahead.
Again it was Donnelly who. got the goal with
McColl this time doing all the hard work.
Seven minutes later, the visitors were awarded
a penalty for hand ball.
Greig took the spot kick and scored, but
referee Lawson ordered a retake.
The same player fired the second attempt wide
and a great chance for Vics was lost.
Vics did close the gap in seventy-three
minutes however when McCallum crossed for Smith to head home.
Winton sealed the points
eight minutes later though when Jewell, from all of thirty yards out, lobbed the
ball over Magee after spotting the keeper off his line.
The teams were
Winton - Graham, Simpson, Malcolmson, Halley, Jewell, McColl,
Bell, McKechnie, Donnelly, Mitchell and Orr with substitutes Murray and
Cruikshanks.
Irvine Victoria - Magee, Drysdale, Barr, Black, Smith,
Gilhooley, McCallum, Brown, Martin, McCulloch and Greig with substitutes Clarke
and Gray.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 22 January 1988
MAYBOLE JUNIORS 0 – WINTON ROVERS 6
Winton claimed the top spot in the
Second Division with a good all-round display which included four goals from
striker Dennis Donnelly (on 13 February 1988).
The visitors started fairly slowly and it
wasn't until the eleventh minute that they created the game’s first real
chances.
Keeper Sinnet of Maybole made a string of good saves
from Donnelly, Kane and Bell - all within a sixty second spell.
Winton took the lead,
however, in the twenty-second minute when Malcolmson laid off a pass to Donnelly
who shot through it knot of defenders and into the corner of the net.
Winton’s forwards continued
to create good chances but it was not until five minutes before hall time that
they increased their lead when Orr beat the Maybole offside trap and set
Donnelly up with the chance to round the keeper and slot the ball home.
A minute later, Sinnet dented Bell when he got
his finger-tips to the winger’s chip shot and put it past for a corner.
Six minutes alter half time, Maybole’s Scobie
was booked for a foul on Donnelly and in fifty-four minutes, Bell forced his way
forward and his final shot was deflected into the Maybole net by defender Denny.
The home side’s best chance came in sixty-one
minutes when Clarke set up Denny with a good pass but his shot went narrowly
past.
Two minutes later, Maybole were reduced to ten men
when Scobie got involved with Mitchell and collected his second booking - and
his marching orders.
In sixty-seven minutes, Donnelly released Kane
to run at the Maybole goal and he made no mistake to make it 4-0. In
seventy-eight minutes, Irvine was booked for persistent fouling.
Two minutes after this, Donnelly completed his
hat-trick when he beat the dlspirited Sinnet to a loose ball and shot past
defender Robertson on the goal line.
Two minutes from time, Donnelly made it 6-0
when he ran in and took advantage of a bad mistake by the keeper and scored from
two yards.
Winton’s team was I Ferguson,
A Ferguson, Malcolmson, Halley, Cruikshanks, McCall, Bell, Mitchell, Donnelly,
Kane and Orr. The substitutes were Irvine and Slimmen.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 19 February 1988
DEADLY DENNIS STRIKES FORM WITH WINTON
Winton striker Dennis Donnelly
grabbed hat-trick on Saturday (20 February 1988) to help the league leaders
towards a 4-0 win at Irvine Vics.
The treble took Donnelly's total to seven
goals in his last two games and put him on the thirty-three goal mark this
season - and this week manager Wullie Kean made it clear how glad he is that the
former Rutherglen Glencairn striker chose
Winton Park
at the start of the season.
“A few clubs were after Dennis but we managed
to persuade him to come here and obviously we are delighted how he has settled
in. I can't remember the last time a Winton player scored
thirty-three goals and if we get promotion, a lot of the credit will go to him.
As well as scoring a lot of goals for us, he
has also scored a few match-winners and that’s the measure of a good striker.”
Kean pointed out that Donnelly’s team-mates deserve credit too.
“They have been giving Dennis good service
this season and a striker thrives on that” he said.
At twenty, Donnelly could be the target of
senior interest but has made his intentions clear at the club “Dennis has told
us not even to tell him about approaches from senior clubs until the end of the
season.
He just wants to be left to get on with his football
here and I can’t say I'm too unhappy with that attitude.” said Kean.
Donnelly was signed by Aberdeen as a
youngster.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 26 February 1988
Winton began the
game without regular centre-half Paul Jewell and sweeper Paul Halley but they
opened strongly and from a Mitchell cross, Kane's shot was blocked on the
six-yard line. Play was continued to
the midfield in the early stages but just before the interval, Winton had strong
appeals for a penalty waved aside after Bell crashed to the ground from a Smith
tackle. Minutes later, Donnelly shot
just over to end the half on a high note for Winton.
After the break, Kane ran on to a Mitchell pass and fired in a shot which
was well saved by Hill. In 58
minutes, Bell shrugged off a challenge from his Kello namesake and swung over a
cross which Kane turned over the bar from close in.
With fifteen minutes left, an Orr corner was cleared only as far as
McColl and he played the ball back to Orr who side-stepped a challenge and shot
past the keeper for what proved to be the winner.
With six minutes left, Graham had his only save of the second half when
he fumbled a high cross from Woodward and had to save at the second attempt at
Bell's feet.
The Winton team was Graham, Laurie, Malcolmson,
Ferguson, Cruikshanks, McColl, Bell, Mitchell, Donnelly, Kane and Orr with
substitutes Murray and Irvine.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 11 March 1988
after extra
time
The home side got off to the perfect
start in this District Cup-tie (on 12 March 1988) when a good move involving
Mitchell and Donnelly allowed Orr to blast home from fifteen yards after just
four minutes.
After this, however, the game settled into a
hard midfield tussle with neither side able to get the upper hand.
The visitors’ best chance came in thirty-two
minutes when Smith had a fine twenty-five yard shot touched past by Graham.
Ten minutes later, keeper Docherty did well to
save a close-range effort from Dennis Donnelly.
Docherty then saved McIlroy’s blushes when he
managed to turn his own player’s header off the Saltcoats line.
Just after half-time, Saltcoats should have equalised but Gerraghty’s shot from
close range was just off target.
The visitors looked the more determined side,
however, and got a deserved equaliser when Gerraghty got on to the end of a
loose ball and shot home from eight yards after fifty-three minutes.
The game went to extra time and Winton
took the lead in ninety-six minutes.
Donnelly’s shot from eighteen yards was turned
past Docherty by Kane.
In the second half of extra time, Donnelly
increased Winton’s lead at the second attempt after Docherty
had blocked his first shot.
In a hundred and ten minutes, Greening pulled
a goal back for Vics with a shot from inside the box but two minutes later, Kane
lashed a Bell cross off the bar and Donnelly just managed to force the loose
ball over the line to make it 4-2.
Davie McIlroy made it 4-3 when he took
advantage of a Graham fumble and slotted the ball home from close range.
In the last minute, Ferguson was booked for
getting involved with McIlroy.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 18 March 1988
Bell Goal Takes Winton Up
A Hugh Bell goal in the second half clinched
promotion for Winton (on 9 April 1988).
Neither side could get on top in the early
stages and the first scoring opportunity didn't arrive until the fourteenth
minute when Ferguson had to save at the feet of Muirkirk's Rundell.
A minute later, Winton were
awarded a penalty when the referee judged that keeper Docherty fouled Bell just
inside his box.
Bell took the kick but his poor attempt was
saved and within two minutes of this, Muirkirk went ahead when Brennan found
Weir unmarked in the box and he shot home.
Winton drew level in
twenty-two minutes though when Docherty parried a Bell shot and Orr was well
placed to head home the rebound.
In thirty-seven minutes, an eighteen-yard
effort from Orr was well saved by Docherty and three minutes later Weir saw his
sixteen-yard shot at the other end fly just over.
The second half started quietly with neither side troubling the opposition‘s
defence.
This changed in the sixty-seventh minute however,
when McMillan had to head a Cruikshanks shot off his goal line.
Three minutes later though, Winton
secured promotion to Division One with a fine solo effort from Bell.
He rounded the defence to get on the end of a
pass from Andy Ferguson and chipped the ball high past Docherty from twenty-five
yards.
Two minutes later, Muirkirk were denied an equaliser
when Weir was judged to have fouled Ferguson before slotting an attempted
Winton clearance into the empty net.
The Winton team was I Ferguson, A Ferguson, Malcolmson, Halley,
Jewell, McColl, Bell, Irvine, Kane, Laurie and Orr with substitutes Cruikshanks
and Murray.
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 15 April 1988
Winton Rovers are on the road to recovery - but they still face
a long uphill fight for survival.
At the end of last year, the club, one of the
oldest in Ayrshire, looked on the verge of extinction with massive debts hanging
over its head.
Now after months of hard work the tide seems
to have turned at last in favour of the Rovers.
A run of success on its field has pulled the
Rovers up the Ayrshire Junior League second division and
brought increased optimism to the band of dedicated club officials who have
guided the club through the worst of their financial crisis.
In recent years, Winton Rovers - formed in 1900 - has been one
of the more financially stable clubs in the north of the county with a thriving
social club pumping money into its coffers - but when the social club was forced
to close its doors the club was left to stand on its own two feet.
Club treasurer Mr Sam Morrison said “For the
first time we had to ask for the support of the people of Ardrossan.
We have organised raffles, held nearly new
shops, secured donations from local businesses and arranged other fund-raising
events which have helped us pay our week-to-week expenses.
Yes, we still have a long fight ahead but we
are confident that given time and understanding we can survive.”
That long fight includes paying off a £4500
overdraft they still owe to the bank but the club do have their week-to-week
running expenses under control.
Mr Morrison said “We have a great bunch of lads who play for the team. During
the worst times when we couldn't pay all their expenses, not one player asked
for any money they were due.
They knew the position and were willing to
wait until we could sort everything out.”
Mr Morrison also paid tribute to the hard work
of the fourteen committee members and a few friends who have helped the club
during the worst time in its history. There is still a lot of work to be done
and Mr Morrison made a plea for more volunteers to come forward to help with
fundraising events.
The club's next big event will be a summer
fete in
Winton Park
on Sunday 19 June. It is hoped to arrange for a football personality to open the
day’s events.
Mr Morrison said “If anyone can help in any
way to convene a stall, bake or undertake any handicraft work for sale we would
be delighted to hear from them."
Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 29 April 1988