AYR EASE THROUGH SCOTTISH YOUTH CUP

Sunday saw Ayr United Football Academy 19's side play in the Scottish Youth Cup against South West rivals, Stranraer.

In glorious sunshine, Somerset Park was a splendid setting for this tie and the Ayr side took the match to the visitors right from the kickoff with early opportunities for the striking duo of Dale Moore and Roddy Paterson just drifting wide.

It started off fantastically well for the home side as on the seven minute mark, Dale Moore fought off some heavy pressure from the Stranraer defenders to knock the ball into the net from around six yards out after a superb ball from captain fantastic, Ian Fisher, to give his side a 1-0 lead.

It was all one way traffic in the early stages but it was to prove a frustrating day for the home sides players and coaching staff as their opponents pushed back into the game and constantly thwarted any attempts for the home team to extend their lead and put the match beyond the visitors.

Ayr made chance after chance with Roddy Paterson and Dale Moore pestering the Stranraer defensive line with startling regularity. Paterson had a brilliant run from the half way line that left him one on one with the keeper but failed to beat the keeper with his shot but on trying to retrieve the rebound, Paterson appeared to be pulled down in the box but his claims were waved away by the referee.

Darren Baird was connecting well with Dale Moore down the right and when one of their passing moves lead to a corner, it was Alan Murdoch who received the ball at his feet from the cross but he fired high and wide. George Thompson was next to get in on the act when he turned inside his marking defender but his shot drifted wide of the near post.

For all the Ayr sides possessional pressure, the Stranraer defence were clearing their lines well and had limited the home side to five or six goalscoring chances. Ayr's rearguard were nearly caught out on the half hour mark as some loose defensive play ended with Ayr keeper Darryl Matthews having to make his first save of the match. Matthews then played the ball out quickly to Fisher who had some nice interchange play with John Frame, Darren Baird and Robbie Crawford who played the ball back to Fisher who had broken into the box but his shot went over the bar but was a superb period of team play from the home side.

As the first half wound down, Ian Fisher seemed to be dominating his area of the field and took the opportunity to break forward whenever possible. With five minutes left of the half, he played Baird into the danger area who tried lobbing the keeper but was perfectly placed to stop the effort. Moments later John Frame tried a long curling, looping shot but it spun agonisingly past the far post and with that attempt gone, the half time whistle ended the first half proceedings.

It was apparent to everyone watching that Ayr had been in charge but the game had drifted towards the end of the first half and the tempo needed to be lifted in the second half for the match to stay in Ayr's favour.

The second half started at a brisk pace and it wasn't long before Ayr were peppering the Stranraer goal area with netbound shots, the first of which was from Baird who received a cross from Paterson but his shot was straight at the keeper. Thompson then fired a brilliant cross in from the left that went right across the 6 yard line but unfortunately had no takers to finish the move off.

Captain Fisher was dominating on the right again this half with his speed causing all sorts of problems for the away team. One of these speedy bursts nearly ended with a goal as his cross was met by Moore's head but the ball screamed past the wrong side of the post.

It was nearly unlucky 13 for the Ayr keeper as 13 minutes into the second half, a seemingly innocuous weak shot was easily caught but seemed to slip from Matthews hands and nearly into the goal. It could have been a 'what happened next' moment for 'Question of Sport' but fortunately the alert goalie recovered and safely re caught the ball, all with a wry smile on his face.

Ayr were pushing hard up front and were creating plenty of opportunities but were just missing that finishing touch in front of goal that normally comes so easily for the guys up front and on the 65th minute Paterson was pulled down with a deliberate cynicism that stopped a clear run at goal that earned the defender a yellow card.

From the resultant freekick, Paterson, Moore and Robbie Crawford all combined before Alan Murdoch shot just wide. Minutes later, Moore's pressure on the defenders ended with him stealing the ball in the box but his goalbound shot deflected out for a corner.

Ayrs attackers seemed to be getting fouled with every venture into the Stranraer half, Paterson and Moore being the favoured targets but they kept on going, not letting the knocks get them down.

Shaun Kelly was having a magnificent match in the midfield, twisting and turning, moving the ball about fabulously and perhaps it was his brilliant through balls to the attackers that were getting them fouled constantly, its a tough mantle to hold but one the manager will wish his player to continue, attackers getting fouled or not!


10 minutes from the end, Ayr made a substitution, Darren Baird off, Stuart Milligan on and Milligan nearly made an immediate impact. A move that started with Matthews in goal, played out to Keiran MacIntyre who in turn moved the ball up field to Paterson whose shot was saved but rebounded out for Crawford to pick up. He then passed to Moore who laid it up for Milligan to shoot from 25 yards out at the angle of the box that seemed to skim the top of the crossbar. Great strike by the substitute and unlucky not to get it on target.

Three minutes prior to the final whistle, Dale Moore was strangely booked for a tackle in the box with the referee deeming the incident a dive, much to Moore's protestation.

The last two minutes of the match could have seen three home goals, with Kelly with the first effort being well saved, Paterson fired in the next, his strong shot also being well saved by the keeper and to round off the match, Robbie Crawford took a pass from a free kick, ran inside his marker into the box and clipped his shot just over the bar.

That was literally the last kick of the ball and although there was only the one goal scored, it was one of the most one sided 1-0 matches this team will play in.

Ayr now progress through to the next round of the Cup, the draw will take place on or near 30th October and will include previous winners Rangers, Celtic and Hibernian.





Manager Stephen McMillan said at the end "I thought the boys were well worth their win against a strange team who didn't venture forward much. Stranraer made it difficult with 10 players behind the ball, making it difficult to breakdown. It was good to get an early goal but still thought our first half play lacked some tempo. Second half was better and we passed the ball well. In the end it was a comfortable win and pleased to be in the next round."