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Ayr united v ICT (take 2)


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I thought we played really well last night and controlled the game against a pretty decent Inverness side, however due to horrendous individual errors we decided to give them a 3-0 start, which realistically we were never going to recover from (although, we nearly did).

We hit the post / bar when it looked like a certain goal, they cleared the ball off the line on numerous occasions and we could on another night have had 2 penalties but it wasn't to be.

Don't get me wrong, Inverness were right up for this match and defended brilliantly and took their chances well, however I honestly don't know how any Ayr fan can feel that we played badly or that we didn't deserve anything from that game.

I thought another huge plus was Muirhead in a central midfield role, he looks as if he could certainly do a job there with his height and power being something we're seriously lacking with big Jamie out, and of course Shankland coming back, playing well, and making a huge contribution with setting up a tap in for McDaid and scoring an excellent free kick himself.

Lots of positives to take from last night despite the 3 very costly mistakes and ultimately a defeat, but I'm still reasonably confident of us going on a wee winning run starting this Saturday...............

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Nathan Austin trying his best to miss two sitters but Ayr taking pity on him and letting him score.:lol:. Muirhead in centre mid:blink:.   We tried every position to try and find some place he could play half decent and he was hopeless in all of them including centre mid.  Early exit in the playoffs will be the best Ayr can hope for if thats their plans.

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12 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink said:

I think Queens will make a good push, but after seeing Ayr and Dundee United I’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t make the play-offs. The top 5 sides are very similar in quality IMO.

Agreed.  The difference is which team keeps their first choice players fit.  The drop off at this level between starting XI and youths/reserves is massive.  

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17 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink said:

 


We still have 4 of our 5 best players to return, including our first choice goalkeeper (Ridgers, Donaldson, Doran, Walsh) and we’ve managed to beat Ayr twice recently. A dull season is suddenly looking decent for us, but the ridiculous amount of draws we have had may cost us.

 

Yes, and we've been without arguably our best 4 or 5 players as well, although Shankland did return for 45 mins last night and scored one and made one.

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55 minutes ago, PB1994 said:

Both Ayr goals were gifts. Based on the replies here you’d think it was some footballing masterclass.

All the goals in the game were :lol:

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59 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

Agreed.  The difference is which team keeps their first choice players fit.  The drop off at this level between starting XI and youths/reserves is massive.  

It seems there's a competition between ICT, County and Ayr as to who can actually field 11 players at the moment.

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4 hours ago, AyrTroopMajor said:

First goal - Crawford toes the ball away from Docherty, who was comfortably going to deal with it, and as a result they are both taken out the game.

Second goal - As bad as Harvie's goal-line attempt to clear the ball was, Steven Bell trying to play some pass across his own backline is unforgivable.

Third goal - Love Michael Rose, but I have no idea what that was.

We deserved a point from the game in terms of our second half performace, but I cannot understand why the players were so lacklustre in the first 20 minutes of what was a huge game and opportunity. 

Looked like ITC were really pressing at the beginning,  chasing  everything down,  maybe our defenders just couldn't handle it, or they just  weren't warmed up properly.

 

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34 minutes ago, UpInTheAyr said:

Looked like ITC were really pressing at the beginning,  chasing  everything down,  maybe our defenders just couldn't handle it, or they just  weren't warmed up properly.

 

Credit to them, they certainly did hassle our defence early doors but we folded in a manner that I haven't seen since Mark Roberts led the Ayrshire Bianconeri.

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To start with a round of applause for the recorded 76 fans who made it to Somerset Park despite the road conditions in both North and South directions. The records also show that there was 1559 in total attendance although it looked more to me. And we were then treated to the best 9 minutes of the season. The first, in the eight minute, had a degree of luck to it. Superb through ball from Polworth and Nathan Austin took it round Rose and Doohan with a little help from Rose but he finished well which has not always been the case this season. And just as one bus leaves another turns up, three minutes later (certainly wasn’t sponsored by ScotRail). A terrible pass by Smith found Oakley who played in Nathan Austin who again rounded the keeper but knocked it in with his left foot. Not sure how the defender on the line missed the clearance but hey-ho. And as most if not every fan in the ground were shaking their heads we go three up. Liam Polworth sweetly stuck a low 20 yarder which went in via the post. As good a strike as I have seen this season. But any chance of a 7-0 Somerset repeat were soon dashed as Ayr appeared to waken up. They could well have got a goal back before half time. A header came off the crossbar and Cammy MacKay made a fine save just on the half time whistle. In many ways it was fortunate for us that we held out as the second half may have been even more arduous.

Enter Lawrence Shankland for the second half. It felt that the combination of a McCall bollicking, Shankland enthusing the crowd and Ayr lifting their effort made the second half a very, very long one. The first goal in the 53rd minute was made by Shankland and finished off by McDaid. Although I would have given the “assist” to Jamie McCart – although the ball did appear to hit a divot. There were two penalty claims thereafter although I feel that both being denied were the correct decision. The ball clearly played Tremarco’s hand and Oakley had lost the ball in a rumble in the box. Also in the 58th minute Robbo made his first substitution which basically puzzled me. He hooks Austin whos’ pace was the main worry for the Ayr back four and would have been a bonus on the break. And he brings on White ?!! Trafford replaced McDonald in the 70th minute but that was understandable. McCauley replaced Oakley in the 82nd minute and that was one that may have been better happening 15-20 minutes earlier. And three minutes later the inevitable Shankland goal made us fear that another draw was on the cards. And it was – and you could hear a collective sigh of relief from 76 Highlanders when Muirhead headed over in injury time – although I thought that Tremarco’s presence put him off.

Ayr United manager Ian McCall: "You can't give teams a three-goal start. I thought they had 20 minutes, then we dominated, but we couldn't get an equalizer – have to agree.

Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "You know if you lose a goal here, the atmosphere can change and it's a brilliant throw back coming here – spot on again.

Robbo added - "If we win on Saturday, we're back in the hunt going into the break for the cup. We're just targeting whatever team is directly above us. – who can argue against that ?

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1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

To start with a round of applause for the recorded 76 fans who made it to Somerset Park despite the road conditions in both North and South directions. The records also show that there was 1559 in total attendance although it looked more to me. And we were then treated to the best 9 minutes of the season. The first, in the eight minute, had a degree of luck to it. Superb through ball from Polworth and Nathan Austin took it round Rose and Doohan with a little help from Rose but he finished well which has not always been the case this season. And just as one bus leaves another turns up, three minutes later (certainly wasn’t sponsored by ScotRail). A terrible pass by Smith found Oakley who played in Nathan Austin who again rounded the keeper but knocked it in with his left foot. Not sure how the defender on the line missed the clearance but hey-ho. And as most if not every fan in the ground were shaking their heads we go three up. Liam Polworth sweetly stuck a low 20 yarder which went in via the post. As good a strike as I have seen this season. But any chance of a 7-0 Somerset repeat were soon dashed as Ayr appeared to waken up. They could well have got a goal back before half time. A header came off the crossbar and Cammy MacKay made a fine save just on the half time whistle. In many ways it was fortunate for us that we held out as the second half may have been even more arduous.

Enter Lawrence Shankland for the second half. It felt that the combination of a McCall bollicking, Shankland enthusing the crowd and Ayr lifting their effort made the second half a very, very long one. The first goal in the 53rd minute was made by Shankland and finished off by McDaid. Although I would have given the “assist” to Jamie McCart – although the ball did appear to hit a divot. There were two penalty claims thereafter although I feel that both being denied were the correct decision. The ball clearly played Tremarco’s hand and Oakley had lost the ball in a rumble in the box. Also in the 58th minute Robbo made his first substitution which basically puzzled me. He hooks Austin whos’ pace was the main worry for the Ayr back four and would have been a bonus on the break. And he brings on White ?!! Trafford replaced McDonald in the 70th minute but that was understandable. McCauley replaced Oakley in the 82nd minute and that was one that may have been better happening 15-20 minutes earlier. And three minutes later the inevitable Shankland goal made us fear that another draw was on the cards. And it was – and you could hear a collective sigh of relief from 76 Highlanders when Muirhead headed over in injury time – although I thought that Tremarco’s presence put him off.

Ayr United manager Ian McCall: "You can't give teams a three-goal start. I thought they had 20 minutes, then we dominated, but we couldn't get an equalizer – have to agree.

Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "You know if you lose a goal here, the atmosphere can change and it's a brilliant throw back coming here – spot on again.

Robbo added - "If we win on Saturday, we're back in the hunt going into the break for the cup. We're just targeting whatever team is directly above us. – who can argue against that ?

Excellent post and is 100% on the money for me.

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1 hour ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

To start with a round of applause for the recorded 76 fans who made it to Somerset Park despite the road conditions in both North and South directions. The records also show that there was 1559 in total attendance although it looked more to me. And we were then treated to the best 9 minutes of the season. The first, in the eight minute, had a degree of luck to it. Superb through ball from Polworth and Nathan Austin took it round Rose and Doohan with a little help from Rose but he finished well which has not always been the case this season. And just as one bus leaves another turns up, three minutes later (certainly wasn’t sponsored by ScotRail). A terrible pass by Smith found Oakley who played in Nathan Austin who again rounded the keeper but knocked it in with his left foot. Not sure how the defender on the line missed the clearance but hey-ho. And as most if not every fan in the ground were shaking their heads we go three up. Liam Polworth sweetly stuck a low 20 yarder which went in via the post. As good a strike as I have seen this season. But any chance of a 7-0 Somerset repeat were soon dashed as Ayr appeared to waken up. They could well have got a goal back before half time. A header came off the crossbar and Cammy MacKay made a fine save just on the half time whistle. In many ways it was fortunate for us that we held out as the second half may have been even more arduous.

Enter Lawrence Shankland for the second half. It felt that the combination of a McCall bollicking, Shankland enthusing the crowd and Ayr lifting their effort made the second half a very, very long one. The first goal in the 53rd minute was made by Shankland and finished off by McDaid. Although I would have given the “assist” to Jamie McCart – although the ball did appear to hit a divot. There were two penalty claims thereafter although I feel that both being denied were the correct decision. The ball clearly played Tremarco’s hand and Oakley had lost the ball in a rumble in the box. Also in the 58th minute Robbo made his first substitution which basically puzzled me. He hooks Austin whos’ pace was the main worry for the Ayr back four and would have been a bonus on the break. And he brings on White ?!! Trafford replaced McDonald in the 70th minute but that was understandable. McCauley replaced Oakley in the 82nd minute and that was one that may have been better happening 15-20 minutes earlier. And three minutes later the inevitable Shankland goal made us fear that another draw was on the cards. And it was – and you could hear a collective sigh of relief from 76 Highlanders when Muirhead headed over in injury time – although I thought that Tremarco’s presence put him off.

Ayr United manager Ian McCall: "You can't give teams a three-goal start. I thought they had 20 minutes, then we dominated, but we couldn't get an equalizer – have to agree.

Inverness CT manager John Robertson: "You know if you lose a goal here, the atmosphere can change and it's a brilliant throw back coming here – spot on again.

Robbo added - "If we win on Saturday, we're back in the hunt going into the break for the cup. We're just targeting whatever team is directly above us. – who can argue against that ?

Decent post apart from the second goal caame from a slip from Bell who’s attempted  crossfield pass was intercepted by Austin . 

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The above post as has been said was pretty much spot except for the hand ball. His hand was out from his body and should have been a penalty. The ref probably didn't have a good view but the linesman probably had a better view but never got involved for the whole game so was hardly going to give it. 

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