Ayr United 0 - 1 Inverness CT

League Match
Saturday, October 1st, 2022, 3:00 PM at Somerset Park, Ayr
Attendance: 1,866
Referee: Colin Steven
Ayr United Inverness CT

Goalscorers
None. Cameron Harper (47)

Team Managers
Lee Bullen Billy Dodds

Starting Eleven
Charlie Albinson
Jordan Houston
Frankie Musonda
Sean McGinty
Paddy Reading
Josh Mullin
Andy Murdoch
Ben Dempsey
Sam Ashford
Mark McKenzie
Dipo Akinyemi
Mark Ridgers
Zak Delaney
Cameron Harper
Robbie Deas
Daniel Devine
Scott Allardice
David Carson
Steven Boyd
Daniel Mackay
Billy Mckay
George Oakley

Bench
Aidan McAdams
Daire O'Connor
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson
Alex Kirk
Logan Chalmers
Nick McAllister
Brad Young
David Bangala
Paul Smith
Cameron Mackay
Wallace Duffy
Max Ram
Lewis Hyde
Roddy MacGregor
Aaron Doran
Nathan Shaw

Substitutions
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson -> Josh Mullin (61)
Logan Chalmers -> Sam Ashford (61)
Brad Young -> Mark McKenzie (61)
Aaron Doran for Daniel Mackay (69)
Nathan Shaw for George Oakley (69)
Roddy MacGregor for Steven Boyd (85)

Bookings
Dipo Akinyemi (58) David Carson (65)

Red Cards
None. None.
Appearances & Goals To Date
Mark Ridgers (GK) 208 apps -
Zak Delaney 13 apps -
Daniel Devine 158 apps5 goals
Cameron Harper 89 apps7 goals
Robbie Deas 95 apps1 goal
Scott Allardice 78 apps4 goals
David Carson 107 apps1 goal
George Oakley 74 apps21 goals
Steven Boyd 13 apps -
Daniel Mackay 71 apps13 goals
Billy Mckay 214 apps85 goals
Aaron Doran (sub) 341 apps51 goals
Roddy MacGregor (sub) 97 apps6 goals
Nathan Shaw (sub) 13 apps2 goals

Starting Lineup
Youngest Player:Zak Delaney (20 years 269 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (33 years 352 days)
Average Player Age:25 years 361 days
Domestic Players:6 (54.55 % of starting eleven)

Matchday Squad
Youngest Player:Lewis Hyde (20 years 83 days)
Oldest Player:Billy Mckay (33 years 352 days)
Average Player Age:24 years 332 days
Domestic Players:10 (55.56 % of matchday squad)

First Team Debuts

Milestones

Ayr Pressure not enough

Ayr started the day three points ahead of Inverness. They would end the day level. Plenty of pressure from the hosts in a dominant first half but the nearest they came to a goal was a Mark Mckenzie header that came off the bar and the same player missed from six yards after being set up by Dipo Akinyemi. Inverness would be relieved to get to the interval on level terms. Cammy Harper glanced in a header just after the break to open the scoring. That's how it ended after a difficult ninety minutes but it's three wins on the bounce on the road.

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

Ayr were one of the early leaders ahead of the visit from the Caley Jags. They strengthened their push for promotion by adding the man with the sweet left foot to their squad ahead of this encounter, Logan Chalmers, and he started on the bench today. Inverness were still without a handful of players although Max Ram played for an hour last week against Brechin City and he and Roddy MacGregor were on the bench after a few weeks out with injury.

Ayr got the game underway and forced two early corners before Andy Murdoch shot wide in the third minute. Inverness responded with Steven Boyd winning a corner from a deflected shot and Ayr cleared the ball effectively.

In the twelfth minute, a Mark McKenzie header hit the bar and out for a goal kick after Josh Mullen had crossed into the box. Big let off for the visitors.

Quarter of an hour gone and the two Mackay's combine before Daniel brings out an excellent save from Albinson at his near post and Murdoch's looped header cleared Mark Ridgers' crossbar as Ayr went forward again.

Billy Mckay sliced wide after Dan Mackay's shot from the left side was blocked and fell for Billy on the volley.

More Ayr pressure saw a Mullin effort blocked and Musonda headed over the subsequent corner midway through the half. Ayr were racking up the corners in the first half with half an hour played, one every three minutes and counting with Sean McGinty next to head wide.

Ten minutes before the break a rare foray forward saw George Oakley and Billy Mckay interact but the latters cut back was cleared by the defence and five minutes before the interval McKenzie should have done better but he shot wide from six yards after good work by Akinyemi. We went in level at the interval but Ayr were knocking on the door with some intent.

HALF TIME: 0-0

Having been on the back foot for most of the first forty-five, Inverness stunned Ayr by opening the scoring through Cammy Harper with a glancing header into the bottom corner two minutes after the break from a Boyd cross. What a start to the second half from the visitors and Oakley had a header saved by Albinson ten minutes later when he met David Carson's cross at the back post.

Substitute Jayden Mitchell-Lawson went close two minutes after coming on, shooting just wide from eighteen yards and Brad Young forced Ridgers into making a save from his header.

Dodds replaced Dan Mackay with Aaron Doran with some twenty minutes left but it was Ayr substitute Logan Chalmers that shot over soon after with Jordan Houston following suit.

A Dempsey corner looked to be cleared away from the line as Ayr pushed for an equaliser with three minutes remaining and the same player shot over in the dying ember, but that was it as Inverness held out for their third win on the bounce away from home. Another tremendous result on the road for Dodds' men, now levwl on 14 points with Ayr and third equal in the table.

FULL TIME: 0-1

Match report written by tm4tj



Pld W D L F A +/- Pts
1. Partick Thistle 8 5 2 1 21 11 10 17
2. Queens Park 8 5 1 2 13 11 2 16
3. Ayr United 8 4 2 2 14 11 3 14
4. Inverness CT 8 4 2 2 12 9 3 14
5. Dundee 8 4 1 3 15 11 4 13
6. Raith Rovers 8 3 0 5 8 11 -3 9
7. Cove Rangers 8 2 2 4 11 13 -2 8
8. Morton 8 2 2 4 7 12 -5 8
9. Hamilton Academical 8 1 4 3 7 12 -5 7
10. Arbroath 8 1 2 5 5 12 -7 5