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Match Reports 97-98
All reports are supplied by Kevin McClelland, unless otherwise stated.
Stirling Albion 1 - 1 Ayr United
Att: 1027
Cock-up referee Martin Clark had an afternoon he'll want to forget in this encounter, as a string of poor decisions by the Edinburgh whistler turned an already dreadful game into a farce. The biggest talking point of the 90 minutes was his decision to award a penalty to the home side after a handball incident in the box. There's no doubting a hand was used to divert a Paterson cross, but with the 400 strong Ayr support and the entire Ayr team adamant that it was Neil Bennet of the home side who was the culprit and not Luc Sonor, you can imagine the disbelief when Clark pointed at the spot and refused to even consider he had made an error. Perhaps we should really thank him for making such a controversial award as it seemed to waken Ayr up and they replied with an equaliser soon after, but with performances like that from so-called professionals, we certainly have entered the panto season.
Given Forthbank's propensity for wind-tunnel emulation, and the prevailing weather, purists would have been well advised to avoid this encounter as neither team ever got to grips with a slippy surface, driving rain and a swirling wind that whipped the ball out of control from end to end. Stirling had the opening effort, a Bennet shot that flew out of the ground from 12 yards in the second minute, and that set the tone for the rest of this dire match. Footballing ability and a calm head were in short supply and the tackles were flying in thick and fast in the opening period although the out-of-touch ref seemed to call almost all of them wrong. Jim Dick was always in the thick of things and he was fortunate not to be booked for a bad tackle on Nielsen which left the Albion man needing lengthy treatment. He was cautioned however in the 10th minute but this time it appeared to be for firstly being blocked while laying the ball off and then taking an elbow in the face from animal-extrordinaire Tom Tait. Still, Clark felt this merited a booking and who am I to say he's wrong ? The result was that Dick was walking a tightrope for the remainder of the game and given his robust style, that curtailed him considerably.
5 minutes later, Gary Paterson, given time off from appearing in the local pantomime, exacted retribution on Dick with an identical challenge to the one that Nielsen suffered. Give the ref credit, he ignored this as well, and the fact that Dick lay for a couple of minutes, before he allowed treatment. Around this point , a linesman drew the attention of the ref to some comments made from the Ayr bench and Clark lectured at length before play restarted.
Ayr's first decent attack and shot materialised in the 27th minute when Ferguson sent Bowman down the left but he elected to shoot straight at McGeown with Djaffo and Fergie free on the right.
Castilla, who, along with McGeown, had been in danger of hypothermia, showed just how much he has improved with a stunning save from a Price effort in the last minute of the first half.
Into the second half, and Marco Ciardi was removed after 51 minutes in favour of Darren Henderson. I'm sorry to say it, but rather like Alan Hansen thinks David Ginola is too much of a luxury, Ciardi is not the kind of player Ayr need at the moment. A bit lightweight, a bit slow and not tough enough, he would be great in a team that plays free flowing football, but in our situation, it should be horses for courses. Ciardi is more of a dressage competitor, while we need flat racers.
Around the hour mark, Ferguson woke from his slumbers and linked well with Robertson in several neat moves. A pity then that his teammates had drifted off and replaced him.
Enter stage left, Martin Clark. In an attempt to liven things up, he awarded the already-discussed penalty. I won't cover old ground , but nothing rather than an admission of guilt from the supposed offender, Luc Sonor, will convince me that it actually should have been awarded. Bone stuck it away and Ayr were left chasing the game with only a quarter remaining.
Two minutes later, Traynor was removed in favour of Ally Graham, a move which brought howls of anguish from those who don't appreciate his presence. The big man answered his critics in perfect fashion however when he got onto the end of a Bowman cross and diverted it into the net despite McGeown getting gloves on it. That left Ayr with 15 minutes in which to win the game, but it wasn't to be. Stirling threatened briefly and almost snatched an undeserved winner in the last minute when Bone went clear and Castilla managed to palm the ball away toward the byeline. Bone recovered and sent a cross over Castilla toward 3 Stirling players in the box but the impressive Watson headed clear at the expense of an injury. Hjartarsson fired the loose ball into the side netting and that, really, was that.
Had it not been for the "referee" this would have been the shortest report of the season and would have fully merited that award as it was a dreadful game. Thankfully Ayr didn't lose but it's so tight in the mid-table area that draws are not good enough. Three points at home to St Mirren next week are a must.
Team:
Castilla, Robertson, Bowman, Millen, Watson, Sonor, Dick, Djaffo, Ferguson,
Ciardi (Henderson 51), Traynor (Graham 69). Unused sub: Smith
Ref Martin Clark (1/10 - he has no endearing qualities whatsoever. He's pompous, he's arrogant - He's Willie Young ! )
Ayr United 0 - 2 St Mirren
Att: 2411
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From Kev McClelland Disappointing Ayr failed to continue their good form of late into this match and dropped 3 points and a place in the league as a result of losing. Neither side looked like scoring throughout a dour match and there was precious little in the way of goalmouth incidents to keep the crowd interested. It fell then to veteran Tommy Turner of the visitors to open the scoring and with Ayr unable to get back into the game, a late counter finished them off. Gordon Dalziel chopped and changed his squad again for this match, albeit only to introduce 1 new player, and in time-honoured fashion, it was the debutant Louie Donowa who was the most impressive player on the field. His electric pace down the right wing belied his 33 years but unfortunately no-one was able to convert any of the quality balls he sent into the box. However, I was impressed with the contribution from the much-travelled winger, signed from Walsall on Friday, and perhaps someone like the home-again prodigal son, Steve Kerrigan, might benefit more from the service. Donowa gave us a glimpse of his talent as early as the 3rd minute when he cut in from the right to meet Bowman's cross from the left on the drop and volley it just wide, but sadly the game settled into a midfield battle with niggling fouls. Sonor was the first caution, for a scissors tackle on Roddie and Watson of St Mirren followed soon after for chopping down ex-teammate Jim Dick. Ferguson's flick in the 24th minute sent Donowa scampering down the right and he crossed into the box where the big striker headed narrowly over while at the other end Castilla showed why he is being chased by a host of big clubs when he brilliantly blocked a Mendes effort from point-blank range. Ayr squandered their best chance of the half on the 30 minute mark. A free-kick from the left was headed down by Ferguson into the path of Dick and although his mis-hit effort beat Combe, Galloway was their to chest it off the line and clear. Ayr followed up a minute later when Ciardi found Ferguson who fired in a 25 yarder which Combe fumbled, but grabbed at the second attempt. Yardley of the visitors should have broken the deadlock 4 minutes later when he reacted quickest to a blocked clearance but his shot from 18 yards flew just over. The next incident of note wasn't until the 53rd minute when Watson of the visitors was allowed to stride to the edge of the box from midfield and strike a fierce shot which Castilla had to smother. Ayr broke upfield immediately and Ciardi fed Donowa but the winger's inviting cross found no-takers in Ferguson or the out-of-sorts Djaffo. Turner fired Saints into the lead after 59 minutes in a move which started with a soft free-kick being awarded against Robertson. The ball was whipped into the box and Castilla did well to get good contact with his fisted clearance. He had no chance seconds later however as the loose ball was cracked over everyone and into the net from 30 yards by the St Mirren midfielder. Ayr responded by removing Djaffo for Graham and Sonor for John Traynor in an attempt to get back into the game. Ayr's pressure yielded much possession, and a booking for Taylor, but precious little else. Graham caused all sorts of problems for Winnie and Fenwick, but all the chances from dead-ball situations were ultimately wasted. Tom Smith was brought on for Jim Dick in a final throw of the dice and with minutes remaining, A Bowman cross almost brought an equaliser. Graham challenged with Combe and the loose ball was fed to Donowa at the edge of the box but his rasping drive flew across goal and wide of the far post. The final nail in the coffin was hammered home by Yardley, who chested down a ball from the left and broke through the defence to knock it wide of the keeper and give the visitors a 2 goal cushion with 3 minutes left.
Team: Ref: I.M. Fyfe (4/10 - frequently stopped play for no apparent reason) |
From the Sunday Mail ... YARDLEY: OUR STRIKERS ARE NOT ON STRIKE GOAL hero Mark Yardley helped St Mirren to their third win in a row then issued a rallying cry to Saints' shot-shy strikers. The Paisley ace rammed home Saints' second after midfielder Tommy Turner had opened the scoring at Somerset Park with a 30-yard stunner, and he's hoping his 87th minute strike will inspire his fellow forwards to find the net. Yardley said: "The strikers have come in for a lot of stick recently and we have constantly been reminded it is the midfielders who have been scoring for us in recent weeks. I don't mind so long as we keep winning. But I can tell you the Saints strikers are NOT on strike and hopefully that will be the start of a goal glut. This win sets us up nicely for next week, as I can't remember St Mirren ever winning four on the trot. So it is a very big week for the club coming up." Yardley's six-yarder handed Saints a 2-0 win. The match seemed to be heading for a drab, goalless draw until Turner lit it up with a stunning 58th minute strike. There seemed little danger when Ayr keeper David Castilla punched out Gavin Galloway's free-kick, but Turner unleashed a 30-yard shot which sailed high over the heads of everyone and into the net. Turner branded it his best goal ever - then declared that Saints are now on the march. He said: "We have a lot of young boys here who can learn from old pros like myself. Earlier in the season they weren't prepared to listen but I've told them to believe in their own ability and they are beginning to listen a lot more to the experienced players we have in the side." Boss Tony Fitzpatrick was ecstatic that his side had registered a win in Ayr as the last team to visit Somerset Park were Airdrie, who were walloped 6-0. And Fitz insisted the best is yet to come: "I've said it before - I'm a great believer in tradition and St Mirren always go on a run after Christmas. It started a little earlier this year, but I'm confident we'll do so again and keep climbing the table." Ayr had Louie Donowa, their new signing from Walsall, in their ranks and the ex-Birmingham and Norwich winger put over some inviting crosses in an impressive debut. But there never seemed to be any takers. Shattered Ayr gaffer Gordon Dalziel said: "I brought Donowa here to put some crosses into the box and he did that, but there were never any attackers there to finish them off. Our second-half display was disappointing. We were very slack in everything we did. Our final ball was shocking and let us down. After good wins against Airdrie and Raith, and then a draw at Stirling, we were hoping to build on that. But it's now back to square one." |
Partick Thistle 3 - 0 Ayr United
Att: 3027
If Partick Thistle do survive the drop this season, they can look back on this match as the one that started to turn things their way. The 'Save the Jags' bandwagon is rolling along quite nicely now and if they continue to meet teams in such a benevolent mood as Ayr were on Saturday, their league status should be maintained, at least physically if not financially.
If truth be told, Thistle deserved the points. After a bright opening by Ayr, which lasted all of 14 minutes, there was only going to one winner and who that was going to be, was never in doubt from the moment Lyons' shot hit the back of the net. Ayr simply wilted, their heads visibly dropping, and as the match progressed from entertaining to embarrassing, the players just disintegrated into the gutless, shapeless outfit last seen masquerading as a team at Dens Park.
The scene was set even before the kick-off as a cheque for 60K was handed over by the fans. The home supporters welcomed their new player, Alan Lawrence, oblivious to the fact that their captain had made the opposite journey to Airdrie to wipe out a debt, and they had sold one of their brighest stars to a team from a league below them just to pay this week's wages. But in times of adversity, you get to see what your made of. Thistle's fans were brilliant, cheering every move, every tackle and every shot, no matter how wayward. Ayr's fans in contrast had little to cheer about after the opening period as their highly paid players were exposed as a team without fight, without the will to win and seemingly content to accept defeat. Strong words perhaps, but I defy anyone who witnessed this game, to say differently.
Ironically, it was Ayr who dominated proceedings initially and really should have been 3 up before Thistle had an effort on goal. Sonor collected a loose ball in midfield and set Donowa off down the left. He was pursued by 2 defenders but shook them off with a brilliant move that made himself acres of space in the box. Instead of shooting, he laid it back to the inrushing Henderson who completely miskicked from 12 yards. The ball was eventually knocked out toward Robertson and his vicious shot from 25 yards was charged down by the flying body of Archibald.
Bowman had the next opportunity after skinning 2 players down the left. His cross was knocked back out to him and he played a neat 1-2 with Donowa before sending a shot straight at Arthur from 15 yards. Donowa tried his luck from long range a minute later and his shot was touched onto the bar by Arthur although the ref failed to spot the keeper's touch.
Then it happened. A Partick corner was cleared out to Donowa at halfway and he knocked it back to Henderson. Darren's control let him down and McDonald nipped into take it off his toes. He appeared to have lost control after riding 3 challenges, but the ball ran kindly for Lyons who smacked it past Castilla from 20 yards. As I said, the heads went down at this point and it might interest you (or frighten you) that Ayr haven't won a game after conceding the first goal, since a match at Ochilview in February. There didn't look like much chance of that particular record being broken as , although they had some pressure, the final ball or effort at goal was often very poor. Partick on the other hand, grew in confidence and committed more players into attacking positions. Ayr broke up one dangerous attack and sent the ball up to Donowa, who held it up well before sending Millen away with Ferguson and Henderson and only one Partick defender. Tragically, Millen ballooned a wild ball miles away from anyone when a goal looked a certainty and a golden chance was wasted.
Castilla kept Ayr in touch with a marvellous full-length save from a Morgan shot in the 31st minute after Watson had miskicked a clearance on the edge of the box.
Henderson of Thistle was booked for a shocking lunge on his Ayr namesake at the halfway line as Darren was breaking clear with a loose ball in the 38th minute and McDonald should have followed for another bad foul on Dick 2 minutes later. In the last minute of the first half an Ayr corner was kicked off the line at the back post by Boyle as the visitors searched for an equaliser.
The 49th minute saw Donowa torment the Thistle defence again. He collected a great pass from Millen and beat Archibald but his swerving shot from 20 yards drifted just wide of the keeper's far post.
Then it happened again. Lyons picked up the ball wide on the left of midfield and went on mazy run which saw him beat about 5 men before slipping the ball wide Castilla and into the net. Ayr, to their credit, tried hard to get back into the game and had a couple of good chances straight from the kick-off. Firstly Dick shot at Arthur with a rather weak effort and then the move of the match saw some neat interplay between Dick , Donowa and Millen give the latter space in the box, but his powerful effort was saved by the legs of Arthur.
D'jaffo was brought on for Ferguson in the 57th minute but even the presence of the French magician and a chorus of the 'Marsellaise' from the fans couldn't raise the tempo and the match was fast slipping away from Ayr. Henderson was booked in the 60th minute and this coincided with the removal of Robertson for Ally Graham.
Ayr threatened briefly and a Djaffo volley whistled past the near post with the keeper beaten before Gary Bowman went into the book for thumping Boyle into the turf, a move which brought cheers from the Ayr fans. Jim Dick was replaced by Tom Smith in the 74th minute in Ayr's final substitution and 2 minutes later the homeside were denied a stonewall penalty when Lawrence jinked past Bowman and was scythed down by Millen but referee Tait waved away the claims. Perhaps Lawrence's reputation for cheating has preceded him, in which case, Ha Ha.
The final insult was delivered in the 87th minute when Traynor, on his own in defence by this time, misplaced a clearance straight to Morgan and he took the ball past Castilla before firing home beyond Millen on the line. A tragedy for Traynor, as up to that point he had been Ayr's best player. Of the rest, only Donowa and Castilla get passmarks and even my praise of Donowa does not rest easy with some Ayr fans who have already taken a dislike to him after only 180 minutes. In fact, he was being abused at half time, a situation I found quite unbelievable. If some others in the team showed his workrate, the situation down Tryfield Place might not be reaching the critical point it is now.
Team:
Castilla, Robertson (Graham 60), Bowman, Millen, Watson, Sonor, Dick (Smith 74)
Traynor, Ferguson (Djaffo 57), Henderson, Donowa
Ref: Bobby Tait (4/10 - never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad he's retiring this year)
Ayr United 2 - 1 Greenock Morton
Att: 2681
Comeback man Paul Agnew was a belated Santa Claus for Ayr supporters as he capped his return from injury with the winning goal in this tense struggle at Somerset. Captain for the day Ian Ferguson also weighed in with his first goal since the 6-0 thrashing of Airdrie before sneaking off to get married the next day. He marked his final game as a bachelor with a fine performance and his co-striker Laurent Djaffo also returned to something like his old self with a strong running display against the makeshift Greenock defence.
It could have had a very different outcome however, had the rest of the Morton team been on the same wavelength as their on-loan Celtic midfielder Stuart Gray. He had an excellent match and probably didn't deserve to be on the losing side but his shot-shy and punchless strikeforce could only convert one of the host of chances he created.
As early as the second minute I was reaching for the smelling salts as the spawn of satan himself, Willie Young, actually gave a dodgy decision in Ayr's favour. A cross from the left was played back to Castilla by Millen and the keeper picked it up and threw it out, Young waving play on. This was a number of dubious decisions Young made and most appeared to favour Ayr. However, this does not alter my view of him, he's still the worst ref in Scotland.
Play was fast and furious in the winter showers and Djaffo fired in a vicious left foot effort which Wyllie did well to hold. The Greenock side, obviously remembering Djaffo's wonder goal at Cappielow, decided the striker vicious left foot effort which Wyllie did well to hold. The Greenock side, obviously remembering Djaffo's wonder goal at Cappielow, decided the striker needed to be slowed down so Anderson did what we now expect of him and chopped the Frenchman down in the centre-circle. Ferguson fed Donowa from the free-kick and his cross was just too deep as Ayr piled into the box in numbers. A succession of corners around the 17th minute mark proved to be fruitless for Ayr but it was a prelude for Ayr's customary defensive lapse as a Gray cross was headed beyond Castilla by the advancing Hawke, Ciardi having failed to match the midfielder's run.
Almost immediately, Ayr were on level terms with a well-worked and executed goal. A free-kick was played to the feet of Djaffo who laid it off to Ferguson. The big striker held off two challenges at the edge of the box before planting a right foot shot in Wyllie's bottom left corner from 16 yards.
Young again gave Ayr the benefit of the doubt in the 29th minute when a long throw in caused havoc in the Ayr box and Mahood went down under a challenge in the box but Morton's penalty appeals went unrewarded. Ayr broke upfield and Wyllie had to be at full-stretch to tip Smith's cross off the head of Ferguson. Cormack finally went into the book for persistant fouling on the 34th minute when he hauled Donowa down for the umpteenth time. Seconds later he was lucky to stay on the park when he chopped down Djaffo in the same position.
Young's piece de resistance happened in the concluding minutes of the first half. Sonor went down injured and the ball was played out by a Morton man. When Ayr restarted, Castilla was allowed to pick up the throw in and play continued with the terracing punters suitably baffled.
Morton's already weakened defence suffered the loss of Collins at half-time and Ayr got the scent of a weakness in the rightback position. Unfortunately, this was the position that Ciardi was attacking, so the weakness wasn't exploited immediately. In fact , the opening 15 minutes of the half were played out in the Ayr half with the defence looking very shaky at times. Castilla had to make a good save from a Blair cross but the Morton strikers were guilty of failing to convert a few other, easier chances.
Ayr , playing with the wind at their backs, found it difficult to master the conditions and constantly overhit passes and through-balls. With 2 talented wingers, it would have been wiser to feed the ball wide and then cross it in and when Marco Ciardi finally decided he could be bothered, Ayr got a grip on the game. On the hour mark, the Swede skipped down the left, evaded Juttla's challenge and sent a perfect cross into the box for Djaffo to get on the end of and rattle the crossbar with a header. Ayr were not be denied though and in a carbon copy move a minute later, Ciardi's cross was knocked down by Djaffo in the box and laid off for Agnew to control and bury under the diving body of Wyllie from 12 yards.
Ayr almost extended their lead with a flowing move down the right. Donowa broke free and sent the ball over to Ciardi. He crossed into the box and Djaffo headed across goal where Ferguson arrived to send a bullet header inches over. With 69 minutes gone, that man Ciardi again supplied the ammunition for Djaffo but the striker's effort was deflected out for a corner.
Hawke passed up a great chance to equalise after Blair had eluded Bowman and fed the midfielder. He somehow managed to shoot wide from a great position 8 yards out and the goalscorer slid from hero to zero with the travelling fans.
Donowa found himself in the book for a wild lunge in the 74th minute and Robertson replaced Sonor a minute later.
Ferguson showed great determination to create a chance from a slack pass in the 79th minute. The ball seemed to be drifting harmlessly for a Morton throw, but Fergie had other ideas, charging into Archdeacon and robbing him of the loose ball. He cut along the byeline into the box and drew the keeper before flicking the ball goalward, only for Juttla to hook it off the line and deny him a wonderful solo goal.
The remaining minutes were quite entertaining from an Ayr point of view, with Smith trying a couple of long rage efforts and the home pressure forcing a string of corners, but it fell to Andy Millen to keep the points at Ayr when he bravely dived across a shot in the last minute and diverted it for a corner. When the dust had settled, Ayr emerged in 6th place in the league and Morton had slumped to the bottom, something no-one could have expected after the opening game of the season.
Team:
Castilla, Traynor, Bowman, Millen, Sonor (Robertson 75) , Smith, Donowa,
Djaffo, Ferguson, Agnew, Ciardi. Subs (unused) - Graham, Love.
Ref: Willie Young - (5/10 - frame this, the only time he's ever had pass-marks)
Ayr United 2 - 5 Dundee
Att: 2068
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From Kev McClelland I haven't managed time for a match report on Saturday's game yet, but I have to say something today about the worst collapse I can remember. Admittedly, I expected Dundee to win, but when Ayr went 2-0 up, I thought it was going to be another Airdrie result. How wrong could I be ? From the minute I saw that the Davie Purdie re-incarnate was between the sticks (the deal to punt him back across to Ireland having broken down), I knew it wasn't going to be our day. The collapse that followed Ayr's 2 goal burst ranks along with a similar 5-2 reverse against Dumbarton but at least the stand-in keeper on that occasion (Richard Northcote) had the excuse of being injured. Countless corners saw McKeown flapping about the box and he was ably assisted by a defence that contrived to serve up chance after chance to the rampant Dundee forwards. Only the dependable Traynor escapes criticism in defence and Ferguson up front, the rest, apart from the subs, were woeful and the sending-off of Dick for elbowing confirmed my fears that he is/was a time-bomb waiting to go off. After that, Ayr's "midfield" disintegrated. Agnew was the worst, his control and passing being eclipsed in ineptitude only by his unfailing ability to be caught in possession. Tom Smith also had one of his worst games that I can remember. Djaffo showed typical Gallic concern at the fate of the team i.e. none, and his lack of effort typified the performance of team.
Team: Ref: S Dougal |
From the Sunday Mail ... NOW JOHN'S BOYS WANT TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE DUNDEE are well on the way to winning promotion - but now they're aiming to win friends as well. The Dens club, long-time leaders in Division One, are conscious they have an image problem: they can ring up victory after victory on the road but their own paying customers are being short-changed. At Somerset Park they did it the hard way - then defied anyone to say they aren't entertaining. Even going two goals down in just 13 minutes didn't have John McCormack's side looking for the panic button, and the way they responded suggests it's going to be tough to knock them off the top in the race for promotion. Nevertheless, the goal which put them back on course came from an unlikely source: Brian Irvine hadn't scored for the Dark Blues since moving from Pittodrie last year, but the timing of his first was perfect. The big defender has recovered from more serious setbacks than a 2-0 deficit - as his successful fight against MS proves - and he's keen to help his club back to the top flight after a six-year absence. Irvine said: "It was an amazing game really. We forced several corners in the first 10 minutes, then in the space of two minutes we found ourselves two down. It would have been easy to take the attitude that it was 'just one of these days,' especially with the strong wind, but the boys showed great character to get back to 3-2 up by half-time." In fact, Ayr's two goals were just a blip in a match dominated by the leaders. Ayr manager Gordon Dalziel admitted that if Dundee had gone 2-0 up there would have been no way back for his boys. He joked: "We played well ... from 3pm to 3.15pm." Irvine knows it's what happens long-term that counts and feels Dundee can yet win admirers. He said: "There's been a lot of talk about our deficiencies - how we can't win at home and how we're not always good to watch, but we didn't panic when they scored twice. I was really pleased to get the goal and I think we just kept playing the whole time. The manager keeps stressing we win as a team and we had some good passing movements. Our big challenge now is to start winning at home because that's where most of our fans turn out to watch us. Our away support was brilliant but we want to do it at Dens, too." In the end, it was striker James Grady who stole the show - and a hat-trick! There's no question the in-form hit man grabbed two excellent goals, but to claim his second and Dundee's fourth was stretching things a little. He certainly headed Dariusz Adamczuk's cross against Kevin McKeown's right-hand post, but the ball was coming out to safety until it hit John Traynor's foot and cannoned into the net. Nevertheless, bold-as-brass Jim walked off with the match ball. The ex-Clydebank man said:"The ref said I got three - and refs tell the truth! We'll see if he's sticking to that story the next time he's denied a stonewall penalty. Manager McCormack felt Grady deserved a treble for his impressive performance. Another striker, Steve McCormick, was happy with his debut goal, although his day was spoiled somewhat by the fact he limped off at half-time with a hamstring injury. Dalziel is promising changes after a day which went badly wrong following those opening goals by Laurent Djaffo and Ian Ferguson. He said: "We missed David Castilla, who is the best keeper in the league. Their first goal killed us and we never looked like getting back into the game after that." Jim Dick's red-carding for elbowing Russell Kelly - while the score was 4-2 - didn't change the game but a rueful Dalziel groaned: "We were just about to take him off when he got the red card." |
