Ardrossan Winton Rovers and Kilwinning Rangers draw 1-1

The sides played out a 1-1 draw at Buffs Park an entertaining match to kick off their West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) First Division seasons.

The home side led early in the match, with Bryan Boylan notching the opening goal within 15 seconds and before a Winton player had touched the ball.

But the visitors battled back into the game and Ryan Wilson levelled in the early stages of the second half - though neither side was able to find a winner.

For new Kilwinning Rangers manager Kevin Kelly, it was a pleasing result in what was a challenging match against last season's Second Division champions.

Despite failing to pick up all three points, the Buffs Park boss was pleased with how his side performed.

He told Kilwinning Rangers TV: “We knew what we were getting, they’re a resolute side, dominant in the air and physical.

“I thought we set up well, I was really pleased with our first and second phase, going from middle to front, and I thought our two centre halves were excellent dealing with the long balls.

“I do think we are still playing catch up, where we would like to be is not where we are at the moment.

“We’ll always look to improve but the players are putting in every effort that they can – these players are willing to roll up their sleeves.”

While Winton boss Friels admitted the draw was probably a fair result.

He said: “The game wasn’t the best, losing an early goal wasn’t ideal but we worked hard.

“We controlled large parts of the game without really doing too much although they were quite dangerous on the break.

“We had four or five players not at it, our forwards weren’t as good as they normally are, and we had two or three players missing.

“On reflection, a draw was probably a fair result, we didn’t really do enough to win it.”

Though Friels was not as pleased as his adversary with regards to his teams performance.

He added: “There will be teams stronger than others but I think the league is reasonably even from top to bottom.

“There’s a few bigger clubs but there’s not a huge difference between everyone.

“We’ve just been promoted and we’re under no illusions that we’re going to have to adapt to this league – but I think we’re more than capable of that.

“It shows you how far we’ve came that we came away from Buffs Park disappointed – not with the result but with how we played.”

However, the Winton manager was pleased that his side managed to secure a point despite not being at their best.

Friels continued: “It’s vital in these games that if you’re not going to win them you don’t get beat, that’s the main thing.

“We’re away from home, it was very busy, the game was hectic – we could have easily been beat and we couldn’t say we were robbed.

“I think we managed it well because we never went too gung-ho for the win and it’s pleasing we got back into it, because sometimes you can play all day in a game like that and not score.”

Friels has now turned his attention to Winton's next match, a tough fixture against recently relegated Arthurlie at Valefield Park on Wednesday, July 31, at 7.30pm.

He commented: “We’ve got Arthurlie on Wednesday but we’ve got no fears going into that.

“We’re taking matches in batches of five, and we’re looking to get as many points out of each section as we can.

“Hopefully once the first few sections are out the road we’re at our new park and we get a lift from that and we’ve got enough points on the board and we’re there or there abouts.

“We’ve not set out any targets, we’re just looking at each individual game. We know what we are capable of, we know the teams we’ve beat in pre-season and last year.

“We’re just looking to make that level as consistent as possible.”

Next for Kilwinning Rangers is a trip to face Ashfield on Tuesday, July 30, at 8pm.