GOOD progress is being made by new-look Troon FC after they eased into the third round of the Scottish Junior Cup.

That was the upbeat message from Seasiders manager Jim Kirkwood after they defeated Stoneyburn 3-1 in a second round tie at Portland Park.

Despite not being totally impressed with their performance, Kirkwood can see the giant strides being made by the team since he took over for a second spell in June.

He said: "To be honest I was slightly disappointed with the performance- I feel we can play better although Evan Maley was outstanding. But the important thing is that we are in the hat for the third round draw. Sometimes you have to grind out results. Hopefully we can get a home tie in the third round and ideally avoid any of the big guns at this stage in the competition."

The manager us delighted with the direction the team is going in and said:"We more or less ripped the team up last summer and started again. It took as we said until the end of August for the team to gel and we are going well now. "The fans are obviously liking what are doing and we had 250 there on Saturday giving us good support."

Meanwhile six players have signed deals to keep them at the club until 2020. They are: Lewis Clark, Steven McCreadie, Ross McCrea, James Lamont, Euan Maley and Dale Shirkie.

Kirkwood said: "The players who agreed to stay on are all under-21 and doing well."

The Seasiders face Rutherglen Glencairn in a Super First Division game at the Clyde Gateway Stadium on Saturday and Kirkwood said: "We will be looking to take something from the game. We always look to pick up points on the road."