The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian.
26 September 1992
Irvine Meadow XI v Ardeer Thistle
Ayrshire League, Division 1.
Irvine Meadow XI:- Brown; Ferry, Hamilton, Morrison, Stewart; Fontana, Walker; Johnson, Faulds, Walsh, Phillips. Subs: Davidson, Kilpatrick.
Ardeer Thistle:- McKay; Frew, Evan, Ross, Haswell, Thomson, Ferguson, Tumelty, McAdam, Rodger, McInroy. Subs: Byrne, Pritchard.
The fans who were paying their admission money at the gate probably assumed they were about to see a fairly ordinary Ayrshire League match. It would be competitive, there would be some lusty tackles here and there, maybe a yellow card or two. And there would be a few goals with the home team, Irvine Meadow, probably coming out on top.
As the game got under way, it was clear the both teams were keen to go on the attack. In fact, Ardeer had two near misses and Rodgers came within a fraction of opening the scoring. Then Thomson saw an opening for a shot and flashed a piledriver inches wide of the Meadow goal from outside the penalty box.
It was end to end stuff but half-time arrived wth entertaining the game still goalless. With fifteen minutes played the second half deadlock was broken. Meadow who had had their chances too, who made the breakthrough. And it was centre-forward Gary Faulds who got his name on the scoresheet. A long pass found Walsh in space, he moved the ball on to Johnson out wide and when his cross found Faulds he got the vital touch in the six-yard box, despite several defenders trying to block his effort.
Ardeer tried to put pressure on the Meadow defence as they searched for the equaliser, but there was no way through. However, with fifteen minutes still to play, there was an off the ball incident in which the referee, Mr Devenny, saw Martin Ferry, elbowing an Ardeer player in the face. The ref had no choice but to send Ferry off.
Five minutes later, the Ardeer defender, Jim Frew, had a difference of with a linesman and the referee sent him off, too. Judging by the booing coming from both sets of fans
Pritchard, the Ardeer substitute, was in the act of shooting when “Bomber” Brown grabbed him by the foot and pulled him off balance. The ref promptly waved his yellow card at Brown and everyone thought he had given a penalty kick against the Meadow man. However, the ref restarted the game with a goal-kick.
In the space of 6 minutes on-field discipline had deteriorated and there was more to come. Next, a scuffle broke out involving several players which resulted in sendings off for Gerry Rodger and John Pritchard of Ardeer and Colin Johnson of Meadow.
Amazingly, the referee still had time to brandish another red card before he blew for full-time. Ardeer Thistle’s Stuart Thomson, who had already been yellow carded got another as the seconds ticked away and off he went, too.
For those of you who have lost count that’s two sendings off for Meadow and four for, Ardeer Thistle. As well as that, Ian Johnstone, the furious Meadow manager was sent to the stand.
According to the Ardeer Thistle manager, the referee “turned the game into an absolute farce in the last 15 minutes. Everything was fine up unil that point, and I have no complaint about the game until the last quarter of an hour.”
The reporter who was covering the game for the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald wrote that in spite of all the red and yellow cards the referee had shown, “the game had been played in good spirits and Ardeer were unlucky not to secure a draw.”
Final Score: Irvine Meadow 1 Ardeer Thistle 0