Ayr 15s, Pride Over Clyde

On a cold and damp afternoon at Prestwick Academy, Ayr started the quicker of the two sides on show with Mick Ahern having the ball in the net after only four minutes but the referee deemed it to be off-side. 

This was a sign of things to come in the first period as Ayr continued to press the ball in the Clyde half and the first goal came after just eight minutes when a nice passage of play involving Keegan and Willock sent Nisbet through on goal to slot past the Clyde keeper.

Ayr's next goal came within a minute of the restart with Nisbet picking the ball up in his own half then playing an excellent through ball to send Anderson clear on goal and he placed it past the keeper into the far post.

Ayr had further chances to increase their lead with the best of them coming from Nisbet, Ahern and McCarrison but none could find the net. However, Ayr did get another when Nisbet intercepted a pass between the Clyde defenders to go through on the keeper to finish well for his second of the afternoon.

The second period saw Clyde pressing Ayr hard, not giving them a moment on the ball and with only two minutes of this second period played, they finished with a good strike past Hart into the Ayr goal. Clyde continued in this vein and were the stronger team throughout this period of play adding their second goal of the day with a 20 yard strike that flew high past Hart and into the back of the net.

Ayr though, continued to create chances and Nisbet completed his hat-trick
with seconds remaining of the period when he slotted the ball past the stranded Clyde keeper.

As the third period started, the Ayr players were stunned as straight from the restart, Clyde went up the pitch and scored their third of the afternoon but the third period was to prove more of an even affair than the two previous with firstly Nisbet getting another Ayr goal after a good break involving McCarrison and Ahern but only after Fillipi's shot at goal had hit the bar.

Clyde, to their credit kept fighting and never let there heads drop and added another goal of their own with a good finish. However Ayr were not finished scoring with McCarrison getting on the score sheet with an excellent 25 yard strike that left the keeper with no chance.

Coach Jamie McCrae said afterwards,"It was a really good open game played in the correct manner with both teams trying to play football. Ayr started really well but we need to learn not to allow teams back into games by giving away sloppy goals. There were some excellent performances today especially by Nisbet and Ahern."