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Match Reports 97-98
All reports are supplied by Kevin McClelland, unless otherwise stated.
All reports are supplied by Kevin McClelland, unless otherwise stated.
Ayr United 1 - 2 Greenock Morton
Att: 3481
10 weeks ago, Ayr United won the championship with a victory at Shielfield Park. On Saturday, only 1 of the 11 men who started that match , started the one against Morton. By 3:45, the support were crying out for some of the 10 to return and save them from complete humiliation. Such was the visitors domination of the first half...
Ayr had started so well, a neat Bonar pass found loan man Wordsworth, he linked with Christianson to provide a chance for McDonald which was cleared to Jamieson and Christianson screwed the return ball past the post after flicking it over Reid. All this in the first 20 seconds as well.
Unfortunateley, that was almost the sum total of Ayr's attacking threat in that first 45 as the visitors took control with a 4th minute penalty and rarely looked back. Flannery converted the kick, awarded after Love's fresh air swipe at a loose ball had sent Anderson soaring through the air, and Morton's healthy travelling support cheered Scotland's second goal of the 97-98 season.
Wordsworth had the chance to level things after 7 minutes when McDonald sent a perfect cross onto the giant striker's head, but his finish was anything but poetry in motion as it sailed into the Somerset end.
The last 20 minutes of the half were by far the worst. Whilst Ayr struggled to get going throughout, they reached new depths of ineptitude in defence during this period as time and again, Morton's slick passing and possession football ripped them apart. The woodwork was struck 3 times, twice by Flannery and once by Hawke, and the Englishman also contrived to head past the target when scoring seemed easier. Something had to be done and with Dalziel having kittens on the touchline, it was Graeme Love who was sacrificed in favour of Darren Henderson as the team reverted to a back 4. The change had little chance to take effect when Morton stretched their lead. Hawke collected a crossfield pass and sent a neat ball through the defence to Mahood who slotted it across McKeown and in at the far post. The half-time whistle brought welcome respite for the beleaguered Ayr defence but only until they reached the dressing room where the management team no doubt roasted them worse than the Morton frontline had.
The team re-appeared to great cheering and applause from the Ayr support which was in stark contrast to the boos which rang out as they left the field. This just confirms that the half-time beverage stands are sponsored by Prozac again this year...
However, a great and momentous change had taken place during those 10 minutes. Ayr suddenly found the ability to pass the ball - and to each other sometimes ! McDonald fired in a good shot after Mainge set him up and this tested Wyllie for the first time. After 52 minutes, 'Coco' was presented with another chance. Agnew chipped a delicate ball over the advancing defence and McDonald collected it and homed in on goal. Sadly, he delayed his shot too long, allowing McCahill to get back and make a brilliant tackle on the edge of the box. Ayr then won a corner and McDonald nodded Henderson's whipped-in kick just past the near post as Ayr fought hard to get back into the game.
Wordsworth had a goalbound effort blocked after McDonald flicked the ball beyond Wyllie and on the 70 minute mark, Paul Agnew stole in behind everyone to get on the end of a Bonar cross, but his header was straight at the keeper. Henderson tried his luck from long range after Robertson set him up and McDonald also saw a good left foot effort well-taken by Wyllie.
The complexion of the game changed around the 77th minute when Anderson was guilty of a shocking tackle on Paul Agnew which left the Ayr man nursing a bad injury to his left leg and requiring a stretcher to take him from the field. John Traynor replaced him and at the same time, a big cheer went up as Kerrigan replaced Wordsworth. From the free-kick, Ayr won a penalty when Mahood chopped down Henderson. Not content with that, Mahood decided to dish out some verbals to the prostrate Henderson and was promptly removed by Robertson. Things developed into a free for all and around half a dozen players got involved. Amazingly, the ref chose only to book Robertson until the linesman's flag earned Mahood a booking also. Henderson stepped up to take the kick and his left foot effort, high to the keeper's left, was brilliantly saved by Wyllie. In the aftermath of the penalty, Ayr kept pressing and when Flannery fouled Roberston wide on the right, another tempting cross was sent into the box. Jamieson nodded it back toward the goal and Kerrigan nipped in between Reid and Wyllie to glance a header into the net. Urged on by a frantic crowd, Ayr hammered away at the defence. Christianson showed a final flash of brilliance when he bemused 3 Morton defenders on the left and cut inside before firing a superb dipping volley which scraped the crossbar. Ayr finished with 10 men after Henderson was carried off following another Anderson challenge but they still finished the stronger in the 4 minutes of injury time played.
Sadly, it wasn't to be and Ayr's big day turned into the proverbial damp squib. There was a lot to be concerned about, the first half performance especially, but as the game wore on, Ayr did fight back and given a few games, they could gel into a reasonable team. The best performers would have been Henderson and suprisingly, Mainge who did much better than I expected in a central midfield role. Up front, Christianson did well, but was a bit starved of service and McDonald needs to react a bit quicker. Hood and Jamieson were better in the second half and McKeown looked more confident also as the game wore on. However, unless a settled side is found, it could be a long hard season for followers of the Honest Men.
Team:
McKeown, Robertson, Bonar, Hood, Jamieson, Love (Henderson 38), Agnew
(Traynor 77), McDonald, Wordsworth (Kerrigan 77), Christianson, Mainge
Dunfermline Athletic 5 - 1 Ayr United
Att: 3283
Anybody seen the new film 'Meninblack' ? It's about guys wearing black and white who destroy aliens with elaborate weapons. Saturday's match was a parody on the same story, only Ayr United turned to be the aliens and Andy Smith was the elaborate weapon. The home side, wearing black and white incidentally, had way too much firepower for a sorry Ayr outfit who looked shaky from the first whistle, and with a half-time score of 4-1, it looked more a task of saving face for Ayr rather than trying to win the match, as we endured yet another below Par performance.
It started bad and got worse. The Pars forced 2 corners in the first minute and McKeown didn't look comfortable at all with the huge aerial threat posed by Tod, Smith, Shields and Barnett. In the third minute a short corner to Moore was knocked onto the head of Bingham who struck the bar from 8 yards out. Ayr should have been warned, but with an air of inevitability, the home side took the lead when Bonar was robbed of possession in his own penalty area by Smith and he cracked the ball across the keeper and into the bottom right corner for a 6th minute opener. Smith ahd the chance to increase that lead in the 16th minute when a long free-kick to the backpost set him up, but he screwed his shot across the face. Ayr weren't so fortunate 5 minutes later when Tod's pass eluded Jamieson and Smith sent McKeown the wrong way with a right foot shot to make it 2-0.
Ayr rallied briefly to pull one back when a high ball into the box was missed by Tod and McDonald laid it back to Wordsworth to fire a low shot beyond Westwater. That was after 27 minutes and Ayr should have equalised 4 minutes later when an Agnew throw was hoisted into the box by Kristensen. Miller missed with the attempted clearance allowing Bell a header at the backpost which forced a great save from the keeper. McDonald pounced on the loose ball inside the box but his snapshot was blocked off the line for a corner. This fightback appeared to annoy the home side and they scored again in the 39th minute when Smith rose among 3 defenders to send a looping header over McKeown from a free-kick. A minute later, Ayr had the chance to pull one back when Mainge found space in the box but his shot was charged down and Jamieson's follow up was also blocked. Wordsworth and Barnett went into the book for a bit of shoving off the ball and the furore hadn't died down when Dunfermline were awarded a penalty after Smith had been pulled down by Jamieson at the end of a well rehearsed move. French tucked the award away and Ayr went in 4-1 down at the interval.
Colin McDonald was removed in favour of Steve Kerrigan at the break but that change alone did little to alter the pattern of the game with long periods of possession being conceded to the hosts. Ayr did threaten a lot more however and should have done more with the inventive midfield play of Willie Mainge who provided several chances for the front men, as well as fighting very hard in midfield. Agnew fired in a good effort as did Bonar, but the reality was that the home side were taking it easy as the game was won. To emphasise their superiority, they notched another when Cup-lookalike Smith took his personal tally to 4 with a well-placed shot from 20 yards after being allowed acres of space to shoot. Wordsworth had two excellent chances to cut the deficit when clean through on the keeper but on both occasions, shot straight at Westwater and made it easy for him. The match petered out to as bad a conclusion as most of us thought possible and with as many players injured as Ayr have, it looks like Gordon Dalziel and his team have a long season ahead of them trying to field a team , never mind win a match.
Team:
McKeown, Robertson, Bonar, Hood, Jamieson (Love 75), Mainge, Agnew,
Bell, Wordsworth, McDonald (Kerrigan 46), Kristensen. sub NU Castilla.
Ref: Mr E Martindale (3/10 - As bad as he always is.)
Ayr United 3 - 0 Queen's Park
Att: 1255
At last the Ayr supporters got to see some goals and , in the second half at least, a reasonable performance. Perhaps the absence of Gordon Dalziel worked as a lucky charm and with the manager being as superstitious as he is , he might believe that, but there might be a sizeable amount of people at the game who would just say that Ayr's third division opponents weren't up to the task.
After a brief period of stalemate with neither side looking good, Ayr broke the deadlock with a flowing move involving Mainge, Hood and Robertson. The latter's whipped in cross was flicked on by Kristensen ands there was Kerrigan to head home from 8 yards to give Ayr a 10th minute lead. A Traynor shot from a Kristensen corner almost brought a second after 13 minutes and Wordsworth sent a header over the bar as Ayr turned the screw. Unfortunately for the on-loan striker, his next attempt saw the ball clear the Railway End shed by at least its own height again, as he squandered Bonar's good build-up with a wild shot.
Mainge sent a powerful header just over after 39 minutes with Kristensen again the provider via a corner. Kerrigan almost doubled his tally in first half injury time when he wheeled on the edge of the box and shot just wide of the keeper's left post.
Ayr replaced Robertson with Jamieson at the interval with Traynor moving to the wing-back position and the new look formation survived their first real scare when Hardie capitalised on indecision to crack a right foot effort off the outside of the far post from 20 yards. Ayr got their act together after this and Traynor fed Bell to put a cross onto Wordsworth's head, but it slipped just past the post. Brian Kristensen was revelling in his wide role and tormented Rossiter at full-back for the whole second half, but Ayr's next goal came after a brilliant move involving a Castilla kick out to Wordsworth, a flick to Bell and an inch-perfect pass behind the defence to John Traynor who was chopped down by Cullie and ref Clark awarded a deserved penalty kick. Kerrigan grabbed the ball and hammered it home from the penalty spot, sending the keeper the wrong way. Kerrigan left the field almost immediately to great applause which increased in volume with the appearance of Isaac English for his first competitive game since his leg-break on the 14th of December last year.
Kristensen went off on another mazy run after 65 minutes which ended with him chipping the keeper, but his goal-bound header was knocked off the line at the expense of a corner. After forcing another corner off the initial award, Wordsworth saw his shot blocked by the keeper as Ayr looked to kill the game. Wordsworth did finally get on the score-sheet in the 73rd minute when Kristensen controlled a throw in and found the striker who made space and blasted home from 12 yards. A minute later 'Deano' was replaced by the lively Colin McDonald and Ayr had 3 of the fastest forwards I've seen for a while.
Queen's brought on ex-Ayr man Jim Mercer and the big striker got a few cheers from the Somerset crowd on his return, which quickly turned to jeers as he set up Edgar for a shot which he should have finished better than the tame shot wide of goal that resulted. Ayr finished well on top in what remained of the match and English took a couple of hefty challenges which proved his leg was able to withstand the tackling. Kristensen and McDonald threatened continually and only the packed defence of the visitors kept the score down to a respectable 3-0.
Thanks go to the few Queen's supporters who turned up, especially the guy with the trombone (!) who entertained us throughout with some excellent tunes, which unfortunately went unaccompanied.
Team:
Castilla, Robertson (Jamieson 46), Bonar, Hood, Traynor, Love, Bell,
Mainge, Kerrigan (English 60), Wordsworth (McDonald 74), Kristenson
Ref: Mr Martin Clark (Edinburgh) [7/10 Not bad for him]
Falkirk 2 - 1 Ayr United
Att: 2683
2 League games , 2 defeats , 2 identical scores and 2 similar performances. That's the story of the league campaign so far and it explains why Ayr are now languishing at the bottom of the table as the only team in the league without a point. It doesn't however, give an accurate reflection on the proceedings on Saturday when I felt that Ayr were worthy of at least a point, and with a bit more composure in defence, could have had all three. I say similar performances but that's perhaps being a bit harsh as I don't believe we could be as bad as we were in the first half against Morton, but the pattern was the same. Falkirk had the better of the first hour, but after that Ayr were the side on top and finished much the stronger team. Unfortunately it's only the final score that matters in terms of points and the hard luck stories have to stop, and soon.
Ayr started brilliantly and should have gone in front after only 90 seconds when McDonald collected a throw-in and fed Kerrigan and his fierce shot was touched over by Mathers. Falkirk began to assert themselves after this early shock but it took until the 20th minute before their pressure carved an opening. McAllister was tearing strips off Bonar at left back and it was he who sent a perfect pass through the defence to Scott Crabbe but David Castilla spread himself well to make an excellent save with his legs and Love tidied up the loose ball. The opener wasn't far away though and Falkirk's 6' 7" defender Kevin James was instrumental in providing the chance. A free-kick was sent toward the giant but Steve Kerrigan managed to flick it just over him. James recovered it at the touchline and sent a left-foot cross into the box which left Moss the simple task of heading home from 10 yards. Kerrigan was booked in the 35th minute for a challenge on Seaton and Tom Smith was booked a minute later for a foul on Crabbe. Sandwiched between these incidents, and completely ignored by all the officials, including the assistant ref in front of me who must have selective myopia, was as blatant an elbow in the face as you will ever see. Moss was the culprit and Love was the victim but referee Dallas compounded the error by telling Love to get off the park as he was bleeding. Didn't he wonder how it happened ? McGrillen was next into the book for a bad foul on Mainge near half-time.
Falkirk went for the jugular early in the second period and but for David Castilla's heroics in goal, the match might have been over before the hour mark. He made superb saves from Moss, McAllister twice and Crabbe before Ayr shook things up with a couple of subs. Kerrigan and Smith were removed in favour of Robert Bell and Gianfranco Peron. "Who is Gianfranco Peron ?" you might ask, and I'd love to be able to tell you, but I haven't got a clue. He moved into the wide left midfield role with Kristensen switching to striker, and in the short time we had to see him, he looked reasonable. Ayr started to find more space and actually threatened to score when Mainge's 20 yarder was deflected over for a corner. In 66 minutes, Ayr fell further behind when Bonar gave the ball away with a shocking pass out of defence straight to Crabbe. He sent it wide to McAllister who had a free run into the box with Bonar out of position and he perplexed the retreating Robertson before squaring it to McGrillen to tap home from 8 yards.
In typical Ayr United fashion, we pulled a goal back a minute later. Colin McDonald chased a ball into the corner and managed to fire a cross into the box which was met by the flying figure of Robert Bell who's bullet header beat Mathers at his left post. Ayr sensed a draw and Paul Bonar made a great run with 18 minutes left - straight to the touchline where he was replaced by Dean Wordsworth. I don't normally criticise individuals in match reports but sadly, Bonar has not settled well and is proving to be a weak link. In consecutive Saturdays, Allan Moore and Kevin McAllister have turned him inside out and I feel it's time we reverted to a back 4 with Love at left back.
McAllister provided another chance for Falkirk, this time for Brian Hamilton, but he shot wildly over from 10 yards out. Wordsworth almost became a hero with the fans when McDonald beat the offside trap to set him off on a run in on goal but the striker's well-struck shot was deflected for a corner by James. With 5 minutes left Ayr won a corner which landed at the feet of John Robertson at the edge of the area. He fired a shot through a ruck of players which could have been going in until it struck Wordsworth and it bounced into Mathers arms - such was Ayr's luck in those final minutes and despite wave after wave of attacks they couldn't get that vital equaliser and the final act of the match was a booking for Bell for a challenge on Oliver.
Team:
Castilla, Robertson, Bonar (Wordsworth 72), Hood, Traynor, Love,
McDonald, Mainge, Kerrigan (Bell 61), Smith (Peron 61), Kristensen.
Ref: Hugh Dallas [5/10 Missed a key incident that could have changed the game and was a bit card-happy.]
Ayr United 2 - 2 Partick Thistle
Att: 2398
After last week's defeat at Brockville, Gordon Dalziel remarked that 'Stevie Wonder could see we need defenders'. Strange then, that his next signing should be a striker. Ian Ferguson was signed on Friday, from St Johnstone, after playing against Ayr in a closed doors match on Thursday and he made an immediate impact on the match with an early debut goal. However, Ayr's defensive frailties were all too apparent again and 2 soft equalisers were conceded which left both sides still looking for their first league victory. Perhaps the rumoured offloading of some players this week will enable the required defenders to be signed, as once again, Stevie Wonder could see where the problems lie. The single most frustrating element of Dalziel's managerial tactics is his inability to spot someone having a nightmare, or his unwillingness to remove the player from the game. Yet again poor Paul Bonar had one of those afternoons he will want to forget, yet even with Graeme Love on the bench, the unfortunate full-back was allowed to remain on the park with his self-confidence at an all-time low and at the mercy of the supporters who were screaming abuse at him with every stray pass. Daz has to protect the players from this kind of abuse when he has the opportunity and hopefully he will be guided in this by the more experienced Iain Munro.
Ferguson was in the thick of it straight away and gave Ayr a dream start after only 140 seconds. He was dumped on the turf at halfway after a tackle from behind , but with Ayr in possession, the ref allowed the game to continue. Traynor fed Kristensen and the Dane sped down the right before sending over a cross to the edge of the box. By this time, Ferguson had picked himself up and made a run towards the area, arriving at the perfect moment to rise majestically and power a header beyond O'Connor from 18 yards. Predictably, the joy was curtailed soon after. Agnew's slack pass was intercepted by Lyons and the full-back sent Hetherston through the defence to net easily. 4 minutes gone and 2 goals scored.
Tom Smith was brought down on the edge of the area in the 9th minute and took the free-kick himself, bringing an excellent save out of O'Connor, who leapt high to his right to palm the ball away. 6 minutes later and Hood released Ferguson with a ball over the defence. The striker's cross fell kindly for 2 Ayr players 12 yards out but Kristensen and Bonar decide to leave it to each other and it was cleared easily.
Partick fought back and Ayr had Robertson to thank for clearing a Hetherston cut back from a Connor pass. Minutes later, Adams broke free and chipped Castilla but his effort struck the top of the bar with Hood on hand to clear if necessary.
Ayr went back in front in the dying seconds of the first half after excellent work by Tom Smith. The midfielder jinked through a couple of challenges on the bye-line before deftly chipping the keeper and leave Gregg Hood the simplest of headers into the open net.
Perhaps the Ayr fans were entitled to feel that the home side would press home the advantage in the second half, but they were very wrong.
The warning signs were there early on and the defence was being pulled all over the place by the Partick frontmen. The visitors made significant change with the struggling Gus Caeser being subbed in favour of Billy McDonald and the battling midfielder helped Partick control the middle of the park from then on.
Lyons, who had been guilty of some bad challenges early in the match finally entered the ref's book after a foul on Mainge. Farrell was next to be yellow-carded after a shocking tackle on Ferguson which sent him hurtling onto the track and into the wall. He recovered after treatment, but most Ayr fans felt he should have gone off at this point as he looked tired. With Kerrigan on the bench, the decision seemed easy, but not for Dalziel.
Brian Kristensen passed up a glorious chance to seal the game just after the hour mark when he beat the offside trap to run clear on goal.
After the ref had booked Colin McDonald and Billy McDonald in separate incidents, Partick equalised. Adams was allowed too much time on the right side of the defence and his cross-cum-shot toward the far side, sneaked in at the back post with Castilla helpless. Agnew was booked on the restart for fouling Watson and Partick finished the stronger when Connor, who was roundly booed at every opportunity, fired in a fierce shot from 20 yards which Castilla held well.
Team:
Castilla, Robertson, Bonar, Hood, Jamieson, Traynor, Agnew, Smith,
Ferguson, Kristensen (McDonald 74), Mainge. Subs Not Used Love, Kerrigan
Referee: Bobby Orr [4/10 - baffling]
