I was visiting my girlfriend at her mother's in Ayrshire over the weekend, so I took the opportunity to visit somewhere a bit further afield. Luckily the Troon fixture survived the weather, unlike a few other matches I had considered attending!
I spotted the stadium from the train as we pulled into Troon. It was a short walk from the station to Portland Park. The first thing I noticed was that, if I wished, I could watch the game for free, as it was possible to view the pitch completely unobstructed from the road outside the ground. I had loads of time to spare before the game kicked off, so I walked the hundred yards or so down to the seaside to have a look at the view:
You don't get views like this at Old Trafford
Despite my thrifty nature, I paid my five pounds to watch the game and squeezed through the undersized turnstile, clearly built at a time when men were much, much smaller. It's probably one of the smallest grounds I've been to, but it does boast a social club. A railway embankment runs along one side of the ground; the toilets, social club, changing rooms and enclosure are on the opposite side. There is a very small terrace behind one of the goals, and a training pitch and mobile phone mast at the other end.
The social club and enclosure.
It was cold and I was starving so I headed straight to the refreshment stand for a pie and bovril. A decent crowd had gathered as kick off drew near, aided by a sizeable contingent of Arthurlie fans. I decided to watch the game from the enclosure. As the game started it was clear Arthurlie were extremely fired up, and there was more noise from the pitch than there was from the fans. The Troon players seemed a little subdued in comparison, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Arthurlie took the lead. At one point an effort on goal hit the bar and the post before being cleared. 'Mon the Leeee!' was the recurring battle cry from one Arthurlie fan. Towards the end of the half Troon came back into the game, hitting the woodwork a couple of times.
At halftime a lot of fans made their way to the social club. Another unsuccessful (for me, anyway) halftime draw came and went. I bought a second bovril of the game to keep the cold away. People rubbed their hands together and stamped their feet to try and stay warm. The sun was out, but it was seriously Baltic.
The enclosure.
Troon scored the only goal of the game early in the second half: Wilson heading home from a cross. It should have been 2-0 moments later, but the chance was spurned. A few match balls escaped the stadium; one landing deep in the brambles on the embankment. I don't know whose job it was to retrieve it, but I didn't envy them. Trains passed every ten minutes or so. Occasionally a few fans would wave cheerily. The last twenty minutes of the game saw Arthurlie pressing for an equaliser, but it never arrived. Troon saw out the victory, overtaking their opponents in the league in the process.
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