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Talbot host Bo’ness United this Saturday which will be a good pointer to the start of the season. The East Region club have had a good start to their pre-season matches with wins over amateur club Linlithgow Thistle 4-0 and Lowland League club Stirling University who they hammered 6-1. They held a decent Livingston FC side to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night and will definitely be up for the challenge when they visit Beechwood.

Allan McLuckie is certainly looking forward to the game and added “United look on paper to be a decent outfit and this is the sort of game that we like to be involved in. The new lads will be definitely tested because United are dangerous going forward. No matter who is in our defence they will have to be on their toes.”

Asked about the recent new signings Allan replied “ Grant and Neil have certainly bedded in due to taking part in the three previous friendly matches. Danny has just come back from holiday so we are using him sparingly till he get up to speed, however that’s not to say he won’t start Saturdays game. We also decided to give Brian game time by introducing him during the Kilmarnock game and giving him the full 90 minutes against Annbank.”

Once again the Talbot supporters were perturbed about the lack of bodies for their midweek match at New Pebble Park but Allan was a bit more laid back on the subject. “We have three injured players who have niggles rather than actual injuries and we are not risking them in games that are not bread and butter. Dwayne and Graham have carried a knock from last season while Martin picked up wee twinge against Craigmark. We are hoping that the players will be ready before we travel to Muirkirk.”

On the signing front there have been a few rumbles among the support but Allan was forthright by stating. “I can let everybody know we are actively seeking to strengthen the squad at every opportunity. We have approached players and for some reason whether it was theirs or our decision  they are not here at Beechwood. We know what we need and we will go all out to get those positions filled. We have made four superb signings so far and there will be more to come. We want players who will push to be in the starting line up but they are thin on the ground so it is difficult. We have the backing of the club to talk to whoever we want, but we will not be rushed into signings that won’t benefit the team. I can only ask you to be patient as we are only a couple of more players away from having a good all-round squad.”

Saturday’s match will be the last before the start of the Ardagh Cup section matches.

Talbot did enough to come through a tough match at New Pebble Park. Read the match report by clicking on the Results button.

Talbot will travel to Annbank on Wednesday to face the “Bankies” in our fourth pre-season friendly match. The ADL side have recently joined up with Ayr United Academy and will probably boast a number of future AUFC stars in the making. The academy side were based at Lugar last season and proved to be a decent outfit. Last Wednesday they beat fellow Premier club Glenafton 4-3 at New Pebble Park.

The game kicks off at 7pm.

Read about all the action from todays match against Kilmarnock. Just click on matches and then results.

Talbot are pleased to announce the signing of Neil McPherson from Darvel Juniors. Neil who can play in defence or midfield has been out on trial during our games against Newtongrange and Craigmark. Talbot would like to welcome Neil to Beechwood Park.

LIVE and KICKING WEEKEND | Auchinleck Talbot Forum

Two sets of traffic lights at the Crossroads Roundabout near Bowhouse Prison is causing major traffic congestion. The traffic lights are then followed by lights half a mile South heading from Kilmarnock to Mauchline at the Bargower Bridge. If attending Sunday’s match its advised to set of earlier.

The roadworks are scheduled for 10 weeks.

Due to the wonder of the media world I have been given the chance to branch out from my match programme article to put my deliberations on to the Talbot official website. I hope to put up a weekly article where the running of the team, match thoughts and looking forward to up  coming events.

Firstly due to being on holiday I was unable to attend the early training and the match with Newtongrange. Due to this I believe my penance was a place on the bench up at Dalmellington where the midges were wreaking havoc on the players and the supporters which made it an uncomfortable evening indeed.

To start my article I will take a look at the signings so far and to say I’m pleased is an understatement. The loss of Mark Campbell at the opening third of the season was a big blow, and although we managed to secure the services of Craig McCracken we relied heavily on Steven White who although not a central defender did a superb job alongside big Martin. It was no secret we were interested in Danny Boyle last season and with him still on the books with Rob Roy we had to bide our time to get the big man to sign on the dotted.  He is a player who is in the same mould as big Mark and this is what we lacked last season. Unfortunately Danny is on holiday so we still await to see him in the black and gold, but believe you me it will be worth the wait.

With the loss Scott Johnstone to Girvan we knew it was going to be tough to attract a goalie to Beechwood because of big Andy. To be honest Scott was too good a keeper to be sitting on a bench and I believe the Super First Division will be a better league with him in it. The dilemma was sorted when we captured the signature of Brian Hewitt who a lot of you will know due to him having a successful stint at Neilston and Meadow. Brian has bags of experience which should be a help for big Andy as it provides a training partner as well as cover.

Lastly we won a watch with the signing of Grant Drummond a 21 year old central defender and former Airdrie player. By all accounts he had a superb game against Newtongrange and I had the pleasure of playing alongside him on Wednesday night although he might not feel the same. Welcome to Beechwood lads.

We are all buzzing at Beechwood for the visit of Kilmarnock and the fact that Lee Clark has intimated a strong squad will be playing against us. Hopefully we have a squad in place as Wednesday night was a bit of a disaster when we could only muster 12 players or 13 if you count me. However we did give a good account of ourselves especially in the first half and to be honest some superb keeping kept the scoreline to three goals. Second half was a wee bit more disappointing but you have got to admit that fatigue played a part as the grass was a wee bit long and the opposition had more people on their bench than that was watching the match and fresh legs do matter especially on such unpleasant night weather wise. All credit to Craigmark they gave us a game and I would rather be stretched a bit than the debacle last season when we won 9-0. A good run out I would describe the match.

Scottish Cup draw was disappointing with two away games this coupled with the fact we are away in the West Cup. I have to admit that I was unaware of how the preliminary draw was made but it seems we were in a pot awaiting the three unlucky SFA teams who didn’t receive a bye. A trip to Wigton holds no fears for us but a win could potentially see us face Beith if they beat Newton Stewart. Couldn’t be any worse because we will lose a top Junior side, and especially two clubs who could potentially meet 7 times next season if they are successful enough.

I finish up with encouraging you to get along to Beechwood on Sunday and help honour the ten year stints that Bryan, Colin and James will be celebrating.

The match report of Talbot’s second pre-season friendly can be found on the Match Results page. Interesting game which the midges were definately the winners.

The website editor requested a wee article regarding the front cover design of the testimonial match programme on Sunday.

I was asked to design it and have created a very graphic retro cover that is a wee bit different. We all know that the Talbot programme is widely accepted as one of the best for content, it has came close over the last few years in the award stakes. However, content aside, perhaps a more radical make over of the design could be the final piece in the jigsaw for the popular and quality publication. The cover integrates the two distinctive strips, traditional shirts that go back in some shape or form to the 50s and in Talbots case the 40s. It also suggests a bond between two of Ayrshires biggest football institutions, I know many Killie fans who have a soft spot for Talbot and vise versa. It would be interesting to hear fans views on this and would it be good to adopt a similar or new cover for the home match programmes for the coming season.

A one off framed high quality archival art print of the cover will be for sale in the memorabilia shop soon. All proceeds going to the BRC.

FOOTNOTE FROM WEBMASTER: We are aware that Eugene got the date wrong but that has been sorted for the match edition.

IG7