Ayr United skipper calls for much better

Aug 15 2008

SKIPPER Chris Aitken warned Ayr to pull their socks up after bagging his first goal as a Honest Man.

After a nervous 2-1 win over Berwick in the Co-op Cup last Wednesday, Aitken admitted: "We need to up our performance and all the players know that. I think my goal caught their keeper by surprise, I was trying to keep the ball on the deck and get some curl on it."

A David Greenhill 25 yarder fired Berwick into a shock lead after 12 minutes. But it served as a wake-up call and there were chances aplenty before Aitken cheekily outfoxed Ryan McGurk with his precision shot from outside the box.

Alex Williams edged Ayr ahead right on the break after Bryan Prunty sent him through. But Berwick refused to die and won seven second-half corners as Ayr failed to kill off a tense tie.

STAR MEN: ***Chris Aitken; **Martyn Campbell; *Scott Agnew.

AYR: Grindlay; Keenan, Campbell, Walker, Easton; Borris, Aitken, Stevenson, Agnew; Prunty (Gormley 86), Williams. Unused subs: Henderson, McGowan, Weaver, Stewart.

BERWICK: McGurk; Guy, McMahon, Ewart, Kiczynski, Anderson (Callaghan 59), Little, Greenhill, Lister, Gribben (Grant 79), Dillon (Howatt 83). Unused subs: McLean, Lunn.

Referee: Steve Conroy; Crowd: 745.