Kilwinning Rangers 1v3 Kilmarnock
Pre-Season Friendly
Thursday 23rd July 2015
Following on from the match at Kilsyth the previous
evening, the second game on my Glasgow stopover was 20 miles south of the city
in Kilwinning.
Whereabouts and Whatsabouts
Kilwinning is a town on the River Garnock known as "The
Crossroads of Ayrshire" Its ancient name is Segdoune/Saigtow from the word
'Sanctoun', meaning ‘Saint town’. Kilwinning is steeped in religious history
deriving from its 12th century Abbey, the site of which is said to have been
revealed to Saint Winning by a visionary Angel. It was founded sometime between
1162 and 1188 with monks coming from Kelso, dedicated to Saint
Winning and the Virgin Mary. The date assigned to St Winin is 715 AD, when his
festival was celebrated on the 21st January, when a town fair was held and
called St Winning's Day.
According to legend the Saint sent his monks to
fish in the River Garnock, however no matter how hard they tried they could
even catch a tiddler. The dejected saint placed a curse on the river,
preventing it from ever having fish in its waters; the river responded by
changing course and thereby avoiding the curse.
This part of North Ayrshire was where the
missionary enterprise began in Scotland, with the Celtic Christians or Culdees founded here. The town is also
home to the oldest Masonic Lodge not only in Scotland, but the world. The
Mother Lodge of Scotland attributing its origins to the 12th Century, and is
often called Mother Kilwinning
Kilwinning was a noted centre of Archery in
medieval times. Later the town had an association with coal mining, quarrying,
iron-founding and textile manufacture, with the Pringle knitwear company
originally manufactured their goods in the town.
Kilwinning fell within the area designated to Irvine New in 1966, expanding
with new estates built on surrounding farmland to meet the planned increase in
population. This included new inhabitants relocated from the Glasgow overflow, and
according to the last Census the population is just over 16,000.
Modern industries include the manufacture of
plastics and electronics. The refurbishment of
Kilwinning Main Street in 2010 by Irvine Bay Regeneration Company led to a number of
new businesses opening shops in the town centre, one of a number of
regeneration projects in the Irvine Bay area.
Plantpot History
Kilwinning Rangers formed in 1899 and are
affectionately known as “The Buffs” a nickname giving to them by the Irvine
Herald newspaper after an emphatic win over Kilmarnock Belgrove in 1900.
The club began life as a juvenile club, originally playing at Blacklands Park,
which they shared with senior team Eglinton Seniors, before officially joining
the Junior ranks on the 26th July 1902. The club bagged their first trophy in
the Ayrshire Cup in 1905 and won the the Ayrshire First Division in 1920-21,
becoming champions an additional nine times throughout their history.
The Junior Cup was won for the first time in 1909,
beating Strathclyde 1-0 in a replay after the original tie finished goalless.
The Buffs lost out twice in the final against Ashfield in 1910 and St Rochs in
1922, before finally lifting the trophy again after a 90 year wait, when a goal
from Gerry Peline was good enough to beat Kelty Hearts at Firhill Park. That
1999 success meant they were the first and last Ayrshire club to win the
Scottish Junior Cup in the 20th century, which topped off their greatest season
when they won six trophies in 1998-99.
Ground no.473 Abbey Park
(Scottish Grounds 65 SJFA Grounds 19 Lifetime
Junior Cup Winners 13/27)
Abbey Park is hidden off Church Street, just a
short walk from Main Street. From the corner entrance there's seven wooden
sleeper steps running up half way towards the away dugout. These sleepers are
also behind the far goal with a covered terraced enclosure opposite. The main
part of the ground is down one side behind the home dugout. There are cabins
which provides catering, a hospitality bar, toilets and the changing rooms.
After walking around the ground I discovered there's another paying entrance
around the far side, although this too lacks a sign to let you know this is the
home of Kilwinning Rangers. The ground looks in great nick, the pitch is immaculate
(Aye, I know its still July) and overall the lawns and facilities are well
maintained.
The Match
Kilmarnock are regular pre-season visitors to Abbey
Park. The Buffs wear blue and white hooped shirts, but tonight they were kitted
out in an all lemon number, while Killie wore all orange, so this along with
the bright sunshine gave it a summery feeling.
Kilwinning took the lead after just seven minutes
when a 20 yard free kick from a central position was nicely placed out of the
'keeper's reach by Ben Lewis. Kilmarnock quickly responded and equalised
minutes later when Scott McClean headed home a left wing cross. The first half
was pretty even, but it was the senior side that dominated the second half,
snatching victory with two goals in the last ten minutes. The game seemed to be
heading for a draw until substitute Jack Whittaker got on the end of a right
wing cross with a neat side foot volley at the far post. Moments later a shot
from Adam Frizzell took a big reflection off the defender to wrong foot the
goalie to make it 3-1. Judging by this performance I think the Buffs will do OK
in the Super League First Division this season, while Killie have a few
talented young'uns on their books.
Matchday Stats and Spondoolicks
KRFC 1(Lewis 7) KFC 3(McClean 13 Whittaker 80
Frizzell 81)
Att.270.apx
Top Bloke - Dean Hawkshaw(Kilmarnock)
Admission £4
Mince & onion pie and coffee £2.30
After a pleasant day in Glasgow, where I got up to
my usual gubbins of pub ticking and record store shopping, I caught the train
down to Kilwinkie at 6pm. I didn't have to time for a bevvy in the town before
or after the game, but a steady pub crawl of about 5 pubs from station to
ground is an option for visitors. After returning to Glasgow I called into The
Horse Shoe, my favourite pub in the city then a couple of bevvys on Sauchiehall
Street, before retiring back at my digs after a long eventful day.
I
had a smashing couple of days in Glasgow, my next stop on my wee Scottish tour
is Edinburgh, where I'll be meeting up with the breadknife, James Little and
Jamie McQ for a birthday eve night out, before my next match which is as far
north as I could possibly get to this Saturday.
Foetoes (Matchday album of 20 pictures from Abbey Park)I'm in the process of writing a book on the winners of the Junior Cup over the last 50 years, so there'll be a more detailed account of my Kilwinning visit in the publication.
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