AUCHINLECK TALBOT FOOTBALL ACADEMY NEWS

U19’s – Talbot made the journey to Largs for Sunday’s game. Talbot started well and put Largs under
pressure from the first whistle. By half time Talbot had raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from McLean 2 &
Laird.
The sec ond half was a bit closer and Largs pulled a goal back. But late on Laird added his second and
Talbot’s fourth. Full time Largs Thistle 1-4 Talbot
2003 – Auchinleck Talbot 4-3 Prestwick
It was a slow start by Talbot on a cold we t day but once they got going they found themselves in front when
Kyle Shankland hit a shot from distance that the goalkeeper parried which Josh Jones pounced on to put into
the net. Soon after, it was 2-0 when Kyle this time hit the same shot from distance but this time it found the
net. Prestwick got a goal back on the stroke of halftime which came from a Talbot corner being cleared. Too
many Talbot players had pushed forward looking for the third which taught them a valuable lesson.
In the second half, Prestwick started the hungrier and found themselves back level when a ball acro ss the
face of the goal was turned into the net. Talbot had to pick themselves up and find a bit of fight that had been
missing in the second half. Josh Jones hit a great shot across the goalkeeper with his left foot and into the
bottom corner to make it 3-2. Once again though, Talbot made things hard for themselves straight away
when indecision between players let Prestwick grab a third and make it 3-3. The socks got pulled up again
and Steven “Messi” Parker drove through two tackles and got a shot away that the goalkeeper could only
push to his left before Zak Smith anticipated it brilliantly, running through from central midfield to finish the
game with five minutes remaining and keep the winning run moving on. 8 wins from 8 this season. Joint man
of the match for their dig and desire to win the ball and the game are captain Gavin Withers and central
midfielder John Johnstone.
2006 – Both teams had away games at the weekend with Boswell at Dreghorn to play AC Irvine and Tigers at
the Old Racecourse to play Coylton. Tigers started brightly against Coylton and found themselves a couple
of goals to the good early on. The rest of the first half continued in the same fashion and the Talbot boys
treated us to some really good one touch football and some really well worked goals. The second half was
much the same and some of the football was very pleasing to watch at times. Coylton did score a couple and
played some decent football at times but the Talbot boys were determined to play well and score goals and
hopefully this continues for the rest of our league games. Lewis Smith and Mason Mcneillie both managed
well deserved hat-tricks on a very good day for the Tigers.
Boswell started briskly with good passing resulting in a goa l for Callum Coughtrie. The boys struggled to
cope with a narrow pitch which restricted the passing game they like to play. The second goal came with
Russell Hendry volleying a brilliant cross from Harry Biggans. Irvine clawed a goal back with a break
catching the Boswell midfield in the wrong half. In the second half Irvine, with an unconventional setup,
pulled the Boswell players out of position. It cost Boswell four goals before they settled and Luke Naismith
clawed one back for Boswell in injury time.
2007 – The boys were at Kilwinning Academy on Saturday morning to face Cunninghame, who next season
will be Ardrossan Winton Rovers. Rather than playing the whole match against one team, Talbot played two
30 minute matches, one against each Cunninghame team who have been playing well this season and have
some really talented players so it was going to be a good test for Talbot. From the start, Talbot were in the
ascendancy, moving the ball quickly and making good use of space. Cunninghame were playing good stuff
themselves but were struggling to get all the way up the pitch due to Talbot defending really well as a unit
and working hard for each other. A ten minute spell of nip and tuck played out but the goals for Talbot soon
followed as they began to find real rythym and make good use of the final pass. Calum Auld was making
Talbot tick in central midfield, being aggressive in the tackle and spraying good passes around. Talbot made
great use of the full width of the pitch which caused the opposition real problems resulting in some cracking
team goals.
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The second match started more evenly for a five minute spell before Talbot began to find their way again and
scored excellent goals. Cunninghame found their feet a bit towards the end of the match which produced
great saves from Talbot goalkeeper Christiyan Simmonds. His reactions were first class. Talbot performed
really well over the course of the matches and showed what they can do when they show the heart and desire.
Consistency has been lacking at times this season but on Saturday they all showed the talent that they’ve got
against a really good side.
2008 – This week brought a local derby away to Cumnock at Townhead Park. Recent weeks have brought
positive performances of a high standard.
Blacks against Colts – Talbot started like a house on fire, scoring a couple of quick goals and settled into a
rhythm. All players were getting on the ball, passing and moving. A couple of mistakes let Cumnock get
themselves on the scoresheet. Talbot didn’t let this dampen their spirits though and continued creating
chances. They hit the woodwork numerous times which frustrated some of the boys. The second half
continued in the same fashion with plenty of chances created and a few were put away well. Ball retention
and possession was much better in second half. Man of the match this week was Josh Hayden who has been
turning out high standard performances week in week out, tuning in and working hard in training. Josh was
calm in possession of the ball all game, wasn’t afraid to try and take a man on or have a pop at goal which
resulted in 2 cracking goals. Well deserved and keep up the hard work.
Golds against Cumnock Juniors – Talbot played some decent stuff at tim es, creating some good chances and
scoring a couple of good goals. Cumnock were also good on the ball and put the Talbot defence under
pressure, also scoring a couple of well worked goals. Talbot had put in a couple of excellent performances in
the previous weeks but were struggling to find the same consistency in this match. In the second half,
Cumnock saw more of the ball with Talbot digging in and managing to put some good moves together. It
wasn’t to be Talbot’s best performance in this match but there were lots of positives aswell.
We would like to wish Cumnock all the best for the remainder of their season.
2009, 2010 and 2011 – No games this week due to unplayable pitches.