Give Andy a break

Aug 15 2007 Ayrshire Post

BOSS Neil Watt backed sent-off Neil Watt and called for officials to repair falling levels of professionalism.

And he claimed some seemed to be in the game 'for a bit of fun' and were out to suit themselves.

Watt spoke out after McLaren was shown a straight red along with Queens defender Richard Sinclair for a penalty box melee that sent players from both sides charging in. Over officious ref Steve O'Reilly also flashed seven yellow cards in an over the top display and booked Ryan Stevenson after the final whistle.

Watt claimed he had no idea why McLaren had been sent off and added: "Andy is devastated at the whole thing. He has been great for this club, conducted himself very professionally and wears his heart on his sleeve.

"However, I think there is a difficulty at the moment with officials generally who want to take centre stage for some reason. I don't know where this is coming from but unfortunately, it's not just men in the middle, it's men on the side as well.

"They seem to think they are out for a bit of fun in the afternoon to suit themselves. Yet there are people who are employed and it's a job of work - there doesn't seem to be the same degree of professionalism shown by some of the officials as they did previously.

"For some reason, there seems to be a lack of respect but it's a two way thing. I don't know what has happened to it and why they are behaving this way.

"I don't know why they have been given this aloof position that some of them seem to hold. Andy McLaren is an easy target unfortunately but after what he has done in the game and gone through I think he deserves to be shown a lot more respect by people who are not long in the game."

Ironically, McLaren got Ayr off to a flier in 12 minutes, sidestepping a challenge and then beating keeper Mark Cairns with a low drive.

Queens took only two minutes to level when Ayr's defence was carved open by a neat passing movement and skipper Stuart Kettlewell finished well.

The game flared up in 26 minutes when McLaren challenged Cairns as he tried to force home a loose ball. Sinclair rushed over to intervene as bodies piled in before O'Reilly shocked fans by producing two reds.

The loss of McLaren severely blunted Ayr and they had lost their way when Steven Canning fired Queens ahead in 71 minutes after a sliced clearance from Eddie Forrest.

The introduction of Gareth Wardlaw and Jerome Vareille at last sparked Ayr and both were prominent before Michael Moore rammed home a David Dunn cross with six minutes left.

The hope was Ayr would chase a winner but instead it was Queens who stepped up a gear and two minutes into stoppage time, Alan Trouten popped up at the back post to force home the winner.

STAR MEN: ***Ryan Stevenson; **Jerome Vareille; *Michael Moore.

AYR: McGeown; Higgins, Forrest, Henderson; Swift, Hamilton (Vareille 72), Casey (Wardlaw 57), Stevenson, Lowing (Dunn 68); Moore, McLaren. Unused subs: Robertson, Corr. Booked: Forrest, Wardlaw, Casey, Lowing, Dunn, Stevenson; Sent off: McLaren.

QUEEN'S PARK: Cairns; Paton, Dunlop; Sinclair, Agostini, Trouten; Kettlewell, Cairney (Molloy 63), Quinn, Canning, Ferry (McGrady 83). Unused subs: Dunn, Bowers, Cowie; Booked: Paton; Sent off: Sinclair.

Referee: Stevie O'Reilly; Crowd: 1265.