West Of Scotland Football League (Premier Division)
Wednesday 10th May 2023
Back in Scotland for a few days, what better way to end the season than with a couple of visits to West Of Scotland Football League games, ticking off some new grounds, and seeing one of the best players in the entire division.
When I watched Auchinleck beat Largs at Beechwood Park back in January on a freezing cold night just after I’d been at the San Siro (some comedown), the one thing I remember most is Ross Taylor’s performance because he scored one, caused all sorts of problems with his nimble footwork, and played a massive part in a 3-0 win.
It was a good first impression having never seen him before, he stood out a mile - and at 19, he showed he could handle the physicality in the rough and ready world of mens football where so many young players can fall by the wayside.
Fast-forward four months and it’s not a surprise in the slightest that he’s just been nominated and then WON the ‘Player Of The Season’ award for the entire division - and with 15 goals, 13 assists and a bagful of positive performances to his name for 2022/23, it proves there is a consistent end product to the talent he possesses.
He’s a good player and I’ll always back and trust my own opinions, so whilst Kirkintolloch vs Largs (at another ground I’ve not yet visited) was a different option for a game to go and watch, it was the desire to see Ross Taylor again that swung me in favour of heading down to Ayrshire for this one instead.
Naturally though, as is so often the case when I do this type of thing and specifically want to watch one player, he was on the bench - albeit he did come on for the last 20-25 minutes so it wasn’t an entirely disappointing trip!
Although Auchinleck are one of the most well-known teams in the WOSFL, this game was something of a ‘dead rubber’ because the title race has been over for a good few weeks with Beith Juniors (still no license) being this year’s surprise champions. Beith have always had the points in the bag, whereas Auchinleck always had games in-hand, and ultimately that fixture backlog is what stopped them from mounting more of a title challenge. Throw Darvel (this Saturday’s opponents) into the mix too as they’ve always been up there lurking on the coat tails as well.
In another year, it might have been different… but that’s football sometimes!
Talbot’s opponents for this game were Hurlford United who themselves actually topped the table at one stage early in the season before the early nights drew in and winter arrived. Now in 7th spot, on the whole, they haven’t had a bad season and are certainly capable of taking points off any team.
So, on paper, this promised to be a decent game but, on the pitch, it took a while to get going despite a decent turn-out of about 300-400 including a sizeable following donned in yellow and black down one side of the pitch.
After a very quiet opening 20 minutes where the only ‘chance’ (if you can even call it that) was when Hurlford’s No.11 had a deflected low drive comfortably saved by the ‘keeper in what was nothing more than a routine save, the visitors began to get on top and a set-piece allowed them their first opening although the runner who got in-behind wasn’t able to put the ball on target.
And when the pink boots of Auchinleck’s No.11 (name not known - and not on Twitter either unfortunately) cut inside and let fly with an effort from distance on the half-hour mark, the end result was the ball flew straight onto the road behind the goal.
In fairness, as the first half progressed, the away team properly took charge and started to look really dominant. Another chance occurred when their full-back got in-behind and sent a header narrowly wide when he perhaps ought to have got it on target, but just a few minutes before half-time the increasing pressure paid off when Hurlford’s defence couldn’t quite clear their lines; pinball in the air inside their penalty area, and No.9 (name again unknown) was left unmarked, alone on the edge of the six-yard box and volleyed the ball hard and emphatically into the net to finally break the deadlock.
Given how strongly Auchinleck ended the first half, it was easy to think they might crank up the heat and bag a few more after the restart but, following some more tepid exchanges where nothing really happened, the ‘YOOF’ of Auchinleck (in between doing laps of the ground to get their 10,000 steps in for the day) spotted their star player warming up on the touchline and made it known that if you give Ross Taylor the ball, he’ll score.
Cue, five more minutes passed, before the training shirt came off and was replaced by a black and yellow one and soon enough, Ross Taylor was on the pitch - two hops on his right foot as he entered and wearing a pair of grip socks for good measure!
And although he wasn’t directly involved, Auchinleck soon enough made it 2-0 as a ball over the top found the striker who got in-behind, lucked suspiciously offside (and probably was so you could understand Hurlford’s annoyance) but ruthlessly buried his shot past the ‘keeper to make the game safe.
As said, Hurlford weren’t happy and made their feelings known to the linesman but the goal stood, they weren’t coming back from 2-0 down and that was that.
The result means Auchinleck leapfrog Darvel in the league table and head to Recreation Park on Saturday knowing that, if they manage to avoid defeat, they’ll at least finish the season in second position. It’s not top spot but it’s not a bad way to end the season either!
As for Ross Taylor, even though he didn’t score a goal that would probably have sent Auchinleck’s ‘YOOF’ element into pandemonium, he was a persistent threat; twice gliding with the ball so effortlessly in his short time on the pitch where the ball stuck to his feet really impressively (must be the grip socks), looking bright and lively, demonstrating his technical awareness a few times, and also producing two really good out-of-possession defensive contributions in high areas where he got infront of the defender to stop the easy out ball. ‘Good Ross’ as one of his team-mates shouted because that kind of thing doesn’t go unnoticed whatsoever.
He did get a yellow card for a high foot in a tackle (correctly too; just one of those things), but he brought an enthusiasm and quality to the pitch and drew three fouls himself through his nimble footwork and good body movement. Considering he was only on the pitch for 20-25 minutes, over a full game that would equate to about a dozen fouls on just him alone, so I think even Hurlford’s defenders would acknowledge that he’s a good player, a big problem for opposition teams at this level - and at 19 someone who is certainly capable of having a decent career.
He stands out a mile in this team so enjoy the limelight, well done on your award, and with two hops on your right foot, a pair of cut-offs and those grip socks, I’ll see you again on Saturday down at Darvel - another ground I’ve not been to before!
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