It’s back to league duties for The Buffs, who welcome Auchinleck Talbot in what will probably be The Buffs’ toughest challenge, so far, this season. Tommy Sloan’s side have been all but perfect up to this point, with a monumental effort required if The Buffs hope to cause an upset later today.
Founded in 1909, ‘The Talbot’ have become widely recognised as one of the biggest non-league clubs in the UK thanks to their very impressive trophy haul over the years, which includes a record 14 Scottish Junior Cup wins, dating back to 1949. Along with great success, Beechwood Park, home of The Talbot, has seen some great talent, with the likes of Partick Thistle hero Kris Doolan, making a name for himself with Auchinleck. Signed by Sloan in 2007, Doolan spent over a year at Beechwood Park before being picked up by Partick Thistle, where he would go on to become one of the club’s greatest ever scorers. The aforementioned Tommy Sloan has become a name synonymous with Auchinleck Talbot as he oversees his twelfth year as manager of Talbot, who he joined after enjoying a very successful spell at Abbey Park, in which he was a part of the famous 1999 Buffs squad.
The Talbot come into the game at Buffs Park looking as good as they have for years, with an unbeaten opening eight games in the league, in which they have won seven, only dropping their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to Largs last weekend. Last week’s slight wobble against Largs came after an astonishing six-game cup run, which saw six wins, including a big 2-1 win in front of the cameras against local rivals Cumnock in the Scottish Cup. Despite needing a last-minute penalty to nick a point last time out, Auchinleck have been pretty unstoppable in attacking areas this season, scoring 58 goals in just 15 games across all competitions this campaign, conceding 15. You have to go back to December of 2021 to find the last Buffs victory against The Talbot, with a Ricky Hanvey goal all that could split the sides at Buffs Park as he finished off a rebound from his own penalty, it’s been four defeats to Talbot since then, with the last coming in a penalty shootout in the West of Scotland Cup semi-final. The Summer transfer window saw the movement of two ex-Buffs men to Auchinleck as loanee goalkeeper, Dylan Brown, joined The Takbot alongside former Buffs player of the year Keiren Wood, who will undoubtedly be desperate to get one over on the Buffs today. In the other direction, Glen Cameron swapped Beechwood for Buffs Park and has performed excellently for Kevin Kelly’s side since making the move, already building up a catalogue of incredible saves in a Buffs shirt in just a few months of being here.
It’s four games unbeaten for The Buffs, who should come into today’s match full of confidence after stringing together a run of good results in both the league and cup competitions. There’s no doubt that it’s going to be a difficult task and would take some effort from the Buffs to get a positive result today, but Largs did show last week that The Bot aren’t immaculate despite their good start, which should give The Buffs some confidence for today’s massive contest. A win for The Buffs could see them move to as high as fifth place in the division and would provide Kevin Kelly’s side with a huge boost heading into the Winter months.
