A highly successful Junior playing career has made bedfellows of Colin Spence and the Ardagh Glass Cup

And tomorrow the Troon midfielder is preparing to appear in his seventh final when he and his team mates contest the first silverware prize of the season with Hurlford United.

The flame-haired playmaker, a four-time winner of the trophy during a decade at Auchinleck Talbot, also figured in Bot defeats at the hands of Irvine Meadow and more recently against Glenafton last season.

On that occasion, he was mainly on the outside looking in as the Glens ran out 2-0 winners at Portland Park.

He crammed in barely 30 minutes of playing action after coming on as a substitute.

But finding himself on the periphery of Tommy Sloan’s selection thoughts did not sit easy with Spenny and early seeds of discontent were sown which are arguably the root cause behind him electing to move away from Beechwood Park and join ambitious Troon during the summer months.

He may be familiar with all things Ardagh Glass, however Spenny still finds himself in a strange situation ahead of the Meadow Park showdown as bookmakers rate Troon rank outsiders to collect the trophy.

He said: "I fully expected us to be tagged as underdogs, but nevertheless it’s an odd feeling after countless years of Talbot being strong favourites every time they appeared in a cup final.

“It’s also refreshing that Troon’s preparations are in keeping with this being their first ever Ardagh Glass Final.

"We are meeting up later today for a loosening-up session as well as working on set-pieces before the whole squad sits down for lunch.

“By way of comparison, familiarity had Talbot treating it as just another game.

"Players would train Monday and Wednesday as normal and turn up an hour before kick-off just like every other weekend .

“But nobody can point a finger given their success rate and I just hope our approach also does the trick.”

Spenny believes Troon have it in them to deliver a knockout punch against the current Super Premier Division frontrunners.

He added: “They have outstanding players in Taz (Paul McKenzie), Kris Robertson and the front pairing of Ross Robertson and Stewart Kean.

"But we don’t lack for quality ourselves with a batch of really promising youngsters coming to the fore.

“Getting the ball down to play our free-flowing attacking game is vital and it’s up to the older lads like myself, Gavin Collins, Dean Keenan and Ally Semple to use our experience and establish a platform to get us into our stride.”

Troon boss Gordon Burns reports inspirational team skipper Keenan remains an injury doubt with a back problem that forced him to be replaced halfway through last weekend’s 3-2 defeat of Arthurlie.

And yet another defensive selection headache is posed by the enforced absence of full-back prospect Gareth Armstrong, who is serving out a two-match suspension for being red carded in a recent league match against Beith.

The Seasiders boss said: "Dean was on the treatment table and unable to train alongside the other guys this week but he’s a vital part of our team so he’ll be given every opportunity to declare himself fit .

“Gareth is undoubtedly a big loss as his versatility allows him to operate on either flank.

"However, his absence will be adequately covered by Midge Ure on the right and our old campaigner Neilly McGowan down the left side.

“Otherwise our team is as near full strength as we could hope and the lads have been in good spirits all week and showing no signs of nerves whatsoever.

“Adam Forsyth, our striker signing from Annbank United, continues to score goals while our other flair players Jordan Muir, Dale Shirkie and Dale Moore have lacked a bit of consistency.

"But against Arthurlie there were definite signs of their good habits surfacing again hich is very encouraging ahead of going up against Hurlford .

“We went off the boil after our opening league game win over Pollok and lost back to back contests with Beith and Kilbirnie Ladeside.

"However, nobody can question the character of the guys for the way they bounced back brilliantly against Arthurlie.

Gordon who used to be a travelling companion of Hurlford boss Darren Henderson and George Shaw when they were all team mates together with Forfar Athletic does not believe his players will freeze on the day.

He claimed , “ Gavin Collins , Colin Spence , Neil McGowan, Ally Semple and Chris McKnight are all past winners of this Cup so we will certainly not be found wanting for experience of the occasion.

“It may also linger on their players’ minds that Troon came out on top when the clubs last met in the Ayrshire Cup Final two seasons ago but Darren is a great motivator and will no doubt use that loss to gee up his players tomorrow.

“I do believe a great game is in prospect and if my players prove they can scrap and handle Hurlford’s more physical edge then who knows what might happen?”

On the comings and goings front comes word of Troon’s transfer listed front man Michael Reilly joining Maybole while on the lookout for a club in these parts is former Petershill and St Anthonys striker Chris Mackie whose free agent status is sure to attract interest.