Ayr United babes sink Shire

Dec 19 2008

AYR UNITED Football Academy under 19s twice came from behind to beat East Stirling 4-2 at Carrick Academy on Sunday.

Ayr took time to settle after a two week lay-off and fell behind after 30 minutes. But five minutes before the break Kevin Ireland set up Aaron Connolly to slot home.

Ayr took control at the start of the second half but were floored by a dubious penalty which gave Mitchell no chance.

With a strong sense of injustice, United went straight upfield and Ireland jinked his way through the defence before beating the keeper with a powerful shot. They were then awarded a penalty of their own in the 70th minute which Ireland converted and with 10 minutes left they secured the points. Lloyd Kinnaird whipped in a great cross and Ross Robertson rose above the defence to head home.

Coach Neil McGowan said: “There was a big improvement in the second half performance which made the difference. When we play a high tempo game, we can be a very good team and the players showed that.”

Ayr under 17s kept up the pressure on St Johnstone at the top with a 2-0 win against Queen of the South.

Ayr got the perfect start after only two minutes with arguably the goal of the season. A Brian Taylor pass was flicked into the path of George Thompson by Paul Bunten. He swept the ball out wide to Dale Moore who found Scott Arthur with a superb 40 yard cross ball and Arthur gave the visiting keeper no chance as he drilled the ball home.

Queens were a physical side and broke up United’s passing game although the twin strikers of Bunten and Thompson caused all sorts of problems. On one occasion, the two strikers combined to set up Moore but the keeper pulled off a fine save. Just before the break, Thompson saw his effort slip narrowly wide.

Thompson did get his goal early in the second half. Collecting a low cross from John Frame, he showed a sublime touch before slipping the ball home.

Coach Peter Stewart said: “We showed great spirit and dedication and the boys proved they can handle the pressure when required. The boys deserve all the plaudits. We dominated for most of the game against a strong physical side. They now have two weeks off to re-charge their batteries for the run-in.”

In the SFA Youth Initiative, the under 16s had no match while the under 15s played a worthwhile friendly against Aberdeen. After a very poor first period, United responded superbly in the last two periods and scored through Dyer (2), March and McVey to prove that they can compete against SFA Performance clubs.

The under 14s were in Initiative action against St Johnstone and impressed coach Davie White with a superb display, scoring twice through Paul Rae and Mark Shankland.

White said: “This is a different type of game than what the boys have been used to. Saints are a good side but our players showed they can compete against this type of opposition. They had to dig in deep and the outcome was more than worthy of their overall performance.”

The youth development programme in Scotland now goes into its winter break. The SFL Youth Division restarts on January 11 with both Ayr under 19s and 17s sitting in the top three of their respective leagues.

The Initiative sides have also had a good season so far but their league doesn’t restart until February when head of youth development Mark Shanks will be looking for some players to be tested at a higher level.