Ayr United 2 - 2 Inverness CT

League - Championship
Saturday, April 9th, 2022, 3:00 PM at Somerset Park, Ayr
Attendance: 1,756
Referee: William Collum
Ayr United Inverness CT

Goalscorers
Fraser Bryden (54)
Markus Fjortoft (76)
Shane Sutherland (6)
Logan Chalmers (13)

Team Managers
Lee Bullen Billy Dodds

Starting Eleven
Aidan McAdams
Jordan Houston
Sean McGinty
Aaron Muirhead
Patrick Reading
Mark McKenzie
Alex Kenyon
Kerr McInroy
James Maxwell
Fraser Bryden
Sam Ashford
Cameron Mackay
Robbie Deas
Wallace Duffy
Kirk Broadfoot
Sean Welsh
David Carson
Reece McAlear
Aaron Doran
Logan Chalmers
Shane Sutherland
Billy Mckay

Bench
Michael Moffat
Tomi Adeloye
Daire O'Connor
Jack Baird
Ryan Gondoh
Charlie Albinson
Markus Fjortoft
Finn Ecrepoint
Paul Smith
Mark Ridgers
Cameron Harper
Daniel Devine
Lewis Hyde
Roddy MacGregor
Tom Walsh
Austin Samuels
Joe Hardy

Substitutions
Daire O'Connor -> James Maxwell (45)
Tomi Adeloye -> Mark McKenzie (45)
Paul Smith -> Alex Kenyon (57)
Markus Fjortoft -> Jordan Houston (72)
Jack Baird -> Sean McGinty (89)
Cameron Harper for Aaron Doran (45)
Roddy MacGregor for Logan Chalmers (71)
Austin Samuels for Reece McAlear (77)
Joe Hardy for Billy Mckay (82)
Daniel Devine for David Carson (83)

Bookings
Paul Smith (73) None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Cameron Mackay (GK) 27 apps -
Robbie Deas 73 apps1 goal
Wallace Duffy 34 apps1 goal
Kirk Broadfoot 38 apps2 goals
Aaron Doran 322 apps50 goals
Sean Welsh 98 apps13 goals
David Carson 85 apps1 goal
Reece McAlear 33 apps4 goals
Shane Sutherland 155 apps19 goals
Logan Chalmers 9 apps3 goals
Billy Mckay 190 apps80 goals
Daniel Devine (sub) 144 apps5 goals
Cameron Harper (sub) 65 apps2 goals
Roddy MacGregor (sub) 83 apps4 goals
Joe Hardy (sub) 9 apps -
Austin Samuels (sub) 9 apps1 goal

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Reece McAlear (20 years 61 days)
Oldest Player:Kirk Broadfoot (37 years 253 days)
Average Player Age:27 years 165 days
Domestic Players:8 (72.73 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Lewis Hyde (19 years 273 days)
Oldest Player:Kirk Broadfoot (37 years 253 days)
Average Player Age:26 years 9 days
Domestic Players:13 (68.42 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Points dropped



Inverness threw away two points with a desperately poor second half performance against Ayr United who thoroughly deserved their point as we regressed. We got off to the perfect start and were two ahead after only thirteen minutes through Shane Sutherland and Logan Chalmers with a wonderful strike into the top corner. Ayr shuffled their pack at the interval and it was only a matter of time before we were forced to hang on grimly for a point when we had three in the bag already. Goals from Fraser Bryden and Markus Fjortoft snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat for the Honest Men as we headed home with egg on our faces. The only thing that took the edge off throwing away points was Raith Rovers losing to Morton and Roddy MacGregor getting a run out as a second half sub after being out for months. A better more accomplished performance is required next Friday when Kilmarnock come North, the title on their fingertips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An unchanged Inverness took to the field with Roddy MacGregor on the bench alongside Danny Devine and Austin Samuels. Sam Ashford returned for Ayr who had top scorer Tomi Adeloye on the bench.

A fast start for the visitors saw a Wallace Duffy effort blocked after a scramble in the Ayr box, and a couple of minutes later we were ahead after good work by Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay down the right side. Mckay's cross was turned in by Shane Sutherland for his ninth goal of the season.

Six minutes later it got even better when Logan Chalmers curled a beauty into the top corner from the edge of the box. What a start from the visitors. Could they capitalise on this.... Well, quite frankly no. Before half time it was evident that Ayr were determined to take something from this game and they looked the hungrier of the sides as we went into non contact second to every ball mode.

Half an hour in and Fraser Bryden saw a header saved by Cammy Mackay and at the other end Doran shot over the bar, but Ayr were on our case and our confidence looked fragile.

The half ended with Ayr threatening to take control of proceedings.

HALF TIME 0-2

Cameron Harper replaced Doran at the interval with Ayr bringing on Tomi Adeloye and Dair O'Connor. Was that the move that gave them the ascendency? Probably as we were now second to every ball and brushed off the ball easily at every opportunity.

Mackay pulled off a great save two minutes into the half from Kerr McInroy as Ayr swarmed all over us, and ten minutes after the break Fraser Bryden squeezed a close range shot into the net with our defence not covering themselves in glory after a cross from the right was not cleared.

Ayr pressure was mounting as we struggled to string two passes together and failed to hold onto the ball and Roddy MacGregor was introduced with twenty minutes remaining. More telling was Markus Fjortoft who joined the game after Roddy.

Three minutes later and he was knocking in the eagerly awaited equaliser as we capitulated. O'Connor had just had a shot saved by Mackay as the pressure mounted then McInroy crossed and substitute Fjortoft scored from close range, the defence looking at each other again as two points slipped away.

That woke us up a little and Harper might have done better than volley just over the bar and David Carson dragged a shot wide minutes later.

FULL TIME: 2-2

However, Ayr were not to be denied their hard earned point and there was a bonus for them with Killie beating Dunfermline 2-0. So, Ayr ease away from the bottom two and Inverness blunder their way clear in third place thanks to Raith losing this weekend.

Difficult to spot a MotM in a Jekyll and Hyde performance. Maybe the travelling fans that suffered the ecstasy and the agony of what feels like a defeat.

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Kilmarnock 33 19 6 8 46 23 23 63
2. Arbroath 33 15 14 4 45 25 20 59
3. Inverness CT 32 13 11 8 45 31 14 50
4. Partick Thistle 33 13 10 10 44 36 8 49
5. Raith Rovers 33 10 13 10 40 43 -3 43
6. Morton 33 9 13 11 36 42 -6 40
7. Hamilton Academical 33 9 12 12 37 47 -10 39
8. Ayr United 33 8 11 14 34 48 -14 35
9. Dunfermline 33 6 14 13 33 49 -16 32
10. Queen of the South 32 6 8 18 30 46 -16 26