Unstoppable 17's

The AUFA 17's extended their unbeaten run to twelve games with a hard working performance at home against East Stirling which was soured slighly as Andrew Muir broke his collarbone. 

Ayr started well and on two minutes a great ball from Dale McCormack from the left to Tyler Campbell was unlucky not to result in the opening goal, although Ayr only had to wait until the ninth minute when Dean Marshall was fouled in the box, with the resultant penalty coolly slotted home by on form Deci Milligan.

Ayr continued to press and had further chances with a Steven Hutchison free kick being cleared from the line and on 30 minutes Scott Aitken saw his effort come back off the post after a good run through the middle.

In the 34th minute Andrew Muir made a great run cutting inside only to be fouled and sustaining a broken collar bone which resulted in him being replaced by Lee Lockhart. 

In 39 minutes East Stirling scored from a long range effort to equalise in a rare foray into Ayr's half of the field.

Ayr continued to have the large part of the possession and Lockhart was unlucky with a free kick in 64 minutes when it spun wide of the goal but then on 73 minutes, substitute Adam Forsyth done well to get into the box, only to be fouled but with the resultant penalty, Milligan found the East Stirling keeper more than a match for his shot and was well held to keep the score at 1-1.

United never let their heads go down and continued to work hard with their good work being rewarded in the 87th minute. Campbell and Lockhart combined with the latter crossing low to the back post and Ross Wylie came in late to score the winning goal to make it 2-1 to the home side.

Coach, Mark Pringle reflected "The boys worked hard and showed great character, although by their own standards they can undoubtedly play much better football, we felt we thoroughly deserved the victory"

Ayr 15's and Dumbarton fought out an eight goal thriller of a game at Prestwick where the crowd were entertained to some sparkling football as well as some true blooded Scottish tackling as both teams gave everything they had for the full 90 minutes.

 

Dumbarton started the game brighter and it took Ayr a full ten minutes before they got to grips with the game with Ayr finishing the period stronger as they started to get their passing game together. The Ayr boys were rewarded with two fine goals from the impressive Jason Filippi after he used his pace with great effect to race clear of the Dumbarton defence to take his goals calmly and confidently.

 

The second period started evenly but Ayr where rocked when a free-kick from 30 yards out somehow found its way into the Ayr net. The goal seemed to spark Dumbarton into life and they finished the period on a high with two further goals; the first a penalty and the second from a mis-cued Ayr clearance. 

 

Ayr however, reacted well to being behind as they rolled their sleeves up and took the fight to Dumbarton. Ross Campbell, Nisbett and McCarrison all came close to an equaliser as the period ended.

 

The final period saw a determined Ayr fight for every ball as their great team spirit of this started to shine through. Jason Filippi latched on to a Nisbett through ball and dinked the ball into the corner to complete a fine hat-trick and level the scores again. 

 

Ayr where looking the more dangerous and were pushing for the winner with some great football. However Dumbarton were giving everything to the cause as well and they retook the lead with an excellent finish from their number nine. 

 

Once again Ayr refused to lie down and they equalised with five minutes to go with a cracker of a drive from Aedan Keegan which left the keeper with no chance. Ryan Nisbett had one final chance to sneak a win but saw his effort well saved by the keeper.

 

Exhausted coach Neil Duffy said afterwards, "This was a great example for Scottish youth football. Both teams played some great football and gave everything to the cause. The result was about right as there was not much between the teams at all. Ayr 15's showed great spirit and fortitude to come through their toughest test so far and to keep their unbeaten run alive."