Ayr United vs Queen of the South

[Lochwood]

Poorest we have been and to still win really says a lot about Queens. Lots of possession with no end product, expect things to improve though with your talisman back, that game would have helped him.

Doohan star man two wonder saves with the Celtic goalie coach Colin Meldrum watching, big Adams a close second half, lost count of the number of times we gave the ball away and  didn’t cope with the heat looked fatigued  thro the game, fitness still a big worry for me.

[19QOS19]

Poorest we have been and to still win really says a lot about Queens. Lots of possession with no end product, expect things to improve though with your talisman back, that game would have helped him.
Doohan star man two wonder saves with the Celtic goalie coach Colin Meldrum watching, big Adams a close second half, lost count of the number of times we gave the ball away and  didn’t cope with the heat looked fatigued  thro the game, fitness still a big worry for me.

Two wonder saves? What ones? He made a really good save in the second half from a Hamilton header. He did really well to get down and it was a really good save but it took an age to drop. If Hamilton had got decent power on it he'd have been nowhere near it. I genuinely can't recall another save that could be considered a wonder save though?

I'm annoyed we didn't get at least a point today. Both teams were poor but we were slightly better without taking our chances. It certainly didn't look anything like the Ayr that were blowing teams away last season. We were just utterly toothless up front. But we at least created chances and if that continues the wins will come. I never expected much from Dobbie today given he's just back and El Bak put in a good shift. Once he gets match fit I think he'll link up well.

I honestly believe if Oliver hadn't went off injured we'd have won today. Ayr only came into the game when Lyon came on for us. He was almost invisible. Hopefully he improves. I don't like Kidd but I didn't think he was too bad today. Kilday's distribution today would make Kyle Jacobs look like Andrea Pirlo. Absolutely woeful.

Next week is a big game already. Anything other than 3 points isn't acceptable.


Couple of other things. The ticketing system wasn't as bad as I expected. Pretty simple really. The woman steward wants to wind her neck in a bit. Walking around like a Kapo. Some of these stewards really have delusions of how important their job is.

[Trogdor]

Barely out of first gear today and we still win. As someone else said we will play better and lose. As we did at Dundee.

Passmarks for Doohan, Adams, Kelly & Forrest. Everyone else was a bit meh today for me. 

Why El Bak took that shot on and didn't square it to Dobbie I'll never know. Doohan did well to save it but Queens should have taken him out of the equation.

I'll take the 3 points but we need to improve if we want a top half finish.

 

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, Lochwood said:

Poorest we have been and to still win really says a lot about Queens. Lots of possession with no end product, expect things to improve though with your talisman back, that game would have helped him.

Doohan star man two wonder saves with the Celtic goalie coach Colin Meldrum watching, big Adams a close second half, lost count of the number of times we gave the ball away and  didn’t cope with the heat looked fatigued  thro the game, fitness still a big worry for me.

I agree with much of your post apart from the fitness angle as I'd actually have said the opposite, I thought we got stronger and stronger as the game went on, however right from the first whistle we were second best today, the players looked like they were in a daze and we just never got started.

On the flip side, I was very impressed with Queens and their front three will undoubtedly cause teams problems, they also have a good mix with pace and trickery up top but a solid and physical looking midfield and defence backed up by a very competent keeper.

Anyway, we'll allow the boys an off day and ultimately we snatched the 3 points, so all fine for us and undoubtedly there will be better days ahead for Queens................

[Thereisalight..]

Felt a draw would have been a fair result but delighted with the win of course! Great goal by Kelly, does he only score screamers?

Dobbie was very quiet, and El Bak was the bigger threat, albeit he wasted his chances

Doohan deservedly Motm but up until he went off big Jamie was running him close. Hope he isn’t injured 

[Mgc1910]

Can’t fault the work rate from Ayr but our use of the ball was pretty brutal at times.  Not sure if it was the heat but we just looked leggy all afternoon and couldn’t seem to string 2 passes together.  Solid 3 points though.  

[railwayend]

One of those games for us ,Queen's were pretty decent up until the last third . however Kelly gave us a little bit of class and the job was done . Six points from six in the bottom six semi league . Thanks guys .

[UpInTheAyr]

Barely out of first gear today and we still win. As someone else said we will play better and lose. As we did at Dundee.
Passmarks for Doohan, Adams, Kelly & Forrest. Everyone else was a bit meh today for me. 
Why El Bak took that shot on and didn't square it to Dobbie I'll never know. Doohan did well to save it but Queens should have taken him out of the equation.
I'll take the 3 points but we need to improve if we want a top half finish.
 

I thought Forrest was anonymous for about 75 mins today. The other three def get pass marks but that's about it.

[D'Jaffo]

I thought Forrest was anonymous for about 75 mins today. The other three def get pass marks but that's about it.

Yep he played well for the last 20 minutes or so.

I thought Docherty had a good game cleaning up just in front of the back 4.

[qos1990]

I agree with much of your post apart from the fitness angle as I'd actually have said the opposite, I thought we got stronger and stronger as the game went on, however right from the first whistle we were second best today, the players looked like they were in a daze and we just never got started.
On the flip side, I was very impressed with Queens and their front three will undoubtedly cause teams problems, they also have a good mix with pace and trickery up top but a solid and physical looking midfield and defence backed up by a very competent keeper.
Anyway, we'll allow the boys an off day and ultimately we snatched the 3 points, so all fine for us and undoubtedly there will be better days ahead for Queens................

Someone that talks sense

[Skyline Drifter]

3 hours ago, 19QOS19 said:

Two wonder saves? What ones? He made a really good save in the second half from a Hamilton header. He did really well to get down and it was a really good save but it took an age to drop. If Hamilton had got decent power on it he'd have been nowhere near it. I genuinely can't recall another save that could be considered a wonder save though?

He made a terrific early save from Oliver too before he went off. And as much as Fais wants shooting for not squaring to Dobbie for a tap in, that was also a good save.

Anyway, we PLAYED well, especially first half, and especially while Oliver was on. The shape worked with Oliver and El Bak buzzing round Dobbie and Ayr were chasing shadows generally, though I thought Adams was terrific. We should have been at least three up before Ayr scored out of nothing. Its a fabulous strike from Kelly. From main stand I didnt think McCrorie stood a chance but if those behind the goal think he should have saved it then fair enough. Chance arrived in the first place after Mercer lost his footing and the clearance that landed with Kelly wasnt good enough.

Second half wasnt as good but we improved when Hamilton came on and he was unlucky with that header. Equally McCrorie made a great save from someone (Docherty?).

Its a harsh defeat. We didnt deserve to lose but if you dont take your chances then thats what happens. 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Skyline Drifter

[DeStevie]

Very harsh on mccrorie to say he should have saved Kelly goal. Fantastic technique from Kelly but he really needs to impose himself a lot more. Did absolutely nothing else in game

[Mgc1910]

35 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

He made a terrific early save from Oliver too before he went off. And as much as Fais wants shooting for not squaring to Dobbie for a tap in, that was also a good save.

Anyway, we PLAYED well, especially first half, and especially while Oliver was on. The shape worked with Oliver and El Bak buzzing round Dobbie and Ayr were chasing shadows generally, though I thought Adams was terrific. We should have been at least three up before Ayr scored out of nothing. Its a fabulous strike from Kelly. From main stand I didnt think McCrorie stood a chance but if those behind the goal think he should have saved it then fair enough. Chance arrived in the first place after Mercer lost his footing and the clearance that landed with Kelly wasnt good enough.

Second half wasnt as good but we improved when Hamilton came on and he was unlucky with that header. Equally McCrorie made a great save from someone (Docherty?).

Its a harsh defeat. We didnt deserve to lose but if you dont take your chances then thats what happens. 

You were at a different game to me if you thought Queens should have been 3 up inside 25 minutes!  Good in possession, but did next to nothing with it.  Only real chance came from Bell’s mistake.  

[Skyline Drifter]

3 minutes ago, Mgc1910 said:

You were at a different game to me if you thought Queens should have been 3 up inside 25 minutes!  Good in possession, but did next to nothing with it.  Only real chance came from Bell’s mistake.  

Murray missed a great chance inside the first 3 mins. Doohan made a terrific save from Oliver. El Bakhtaoui lashed one over the bar from a great position about 12 yards out. All before your goal.

You must have had your eyes shut.

[placidcasual]

23 minutes ago, DeStevie said:

Very harsh on mccrorie to say he should have saved Kelly goal. Fantastic technique from Kelly but he really needs to impose himself a lot more. Did absolutely nothing else in game

Absolute nonsense.

There were 6 or 7 in an Ayr jersey who done nothing today. Kelly wasn't one of them.

[Superhursty7]

Absolute nonsense. There were 6 or 7 in an Ayr jersey who done nothing today. Kelly wasn't one of them.

 

100% this most if the good stuff we did going forward came through Kelly and when he did make a mistake and give the ball away he bust a gut to get it back has the makings of a top player, reminds me of a young Mark Kerr (who he will learn loads from training with) except he scores more goals. 

 

 

[19QOS19]

I thought McCrorie was unsighted tbh. Will need to see it back first. In any case, I put blame on the person who left the attacker wide open to pick his spot ahead of McCrorie.

 

 

[pandarilla]

You were at a different game to me if you thought Queens should have been 3 up inside 25 minutes!  Good in possession, but did next to nothing with it.  Only real chance came from Bell’s mistake.  

Well I was at that game too chief - I reckon if we'd been two down at half time it would've been fair.

Second half was slightly better as the game opened up but I though it was Ayr that struggled to create clear chances. Got into some really nice areas but moff and mccowan had off days, and Forrest wasn't much better.

Queens had all the best chances, as others have mentioned, the sitter and the second half header were the best but early on we were on the ropes big time (dobbie had a header in the first half that was a good chance and corners were raining down).

We played much better at dens a fortnight ago (not well enough to get anything) but got the breaks today. I'm still feeling generally downbeat about our prospects this season though, winter could be brutal.

[DeStevie]

15 minutes ago, placidcasual said:

Absolute nonsense.

There were 6 or 7 in an Ayr jersey who done nothing today. Kelly wasn't one of them.

Adams & Doohan only pass marks today. The rest poor including Kelly

[D'Jaffo]

If I remember correctly Queens could’ve scored in the first half when Murray had a good chance, Oliver’s shot was well saved from Doohan, El Bakhtaoui going through with Dobbie when he should’ve squared it and the one he put right over the bar that was probably easier to finish. However as I said these chances came from poor play by ourselves although if they’d gone in you couldn’t really complain.

It’s still early days but there’s things that we’re doing better than last season and there’s things that we’re still missing. For one I think the shape of the team is much better. Playing the 3 in midfield is a bit more solid and also gets the best out of the 2 wingers playing much higher up. I’m a big Crawford fan boy but I’m fairly confident Stephen Kelly is a better player. He’s everything we missed last season and I’d loved to have had him line up in last seasons team. Likewise I think Doc has put in some good early performances and him just sitting in front of the back 4 doesn’t require as much running about and allows him clean up any loose balls in midfield.

However we’re still lacking a presence up front. When Moffat plays well our chances of winning treble but he was poor today which in turn made McCowan and Forrest less effective (I disagree with McCall that Forrest had a good game, he had a solid 20 minutes but no more). Doolan did reasonably well coming on and I wouldn’t be against him starting at Firhill next week but he needs a goal pronto in order to justify his selection afterwards. If we can get a striker in who’s a bit quicker and adds a bit of height then I’ll be really happy. Not exactly a lot of them going that we can realistically get.

I think Queens will be ok this season but not good enough for the play offs. Johnson thinking that El Bakhtaoui is a good player would worry me if I was a Queens fan though.