Ayr United defeated by Diamonds

Nov 6 2009 by Mike Wilson

DEFIANT Brian Reid insisted Ayr will dig themselves from trouble after another horror show tumbled them to bottom of the league.

A lack lustre display and shoddy defending from a back four who looked as if they had never met –- far less played with each other – allowedAirdrie to break their league duck.

What a contrast to the play-off winning party at the Excelsior Stadium only five months earlier. This time, lukewarm Ayr never turned up and hungrier Airdrie well deserved their first win.

Reid kept his players in the dressing room for an hour after the game before emerging to proclaim: "We have had a good chat and know what needs to be addressed. We'll certainly work hard and there is still plenty of belief that we will get ourselves out of it.

"I am still trying to get in a couple of players as we have a very small squad – Airdrie have 22 players and we are sitting with about 18, a lot of whom are part-time which is never ideal.

"There is a long way to go and we'll get ourselves out of it."

Reid claimed keeper Craig Samson was fouled in the build-up to Airdrie's opening goal but added: "I am fed up saying the same things. Usually keepers are well protected and as soon as you bump into them you get a free-kick. My keeper felt he had an arm pulled when going up but some you get, some you don't.

"They got their second goal against the run of play and it knocked us for six after that."

Billy Gibson led out Ayr with skipper Chris Aitken benched while Ryan McGowan started wide right with Dean Keenan and Ryan Stevenson the mid pair partnership.

Ayr came within inches of taking the lead in 19 minutes when keeper Stephen Robertson flapped at a Stevenson corner but Martyn Campbell's shot cracked against the bar.

But Airdrie began to bare their teeth and Samson had saves from Ryan McCann, John Baird and Ricky Waddell in a three minute burst.

The warnings were ignored and in 35 minutes, the hosts took the lead. Samson furiously claimed he was impeded going for a Waddell cross and Alan Trouten calmly fired home the loose ball as the Ayr defence looked on in admiration.

Three minutes, Baird smashed a shot off the post as Ayr's ropey defence looked in danger of creaking.

But right on half-time, Ayr were gifted the equaliser after howler from home defender Ryan McCann who turned a simple cross from Kenny Connolly past his own keeper.

That should have given Ayr a lift but they continued to shoot themselves in the foot. In 53 minutes, a blunder by Andy Aitken, who looked uncomfortable at left-back, set up Diarmuid O'Carroll but the Irishman, who spent the close season on trial at Ayr, fired over. Aitken was hooked a minute later.

O'Carroll was to haunt his old mates 11 minutes later when he slid home a cross from Waddell to put the Diamonds in dreamland.

Ayr tried to respond. The inrushing Mark Roberts poked over a Ryan Borris cross. Then from another Borris cross, Ryan McGowan headed across goal where the stretching Bryan Prunty just failed to connect.

It was game over in 73 minutes when the dithering Ayr defence opened up and allowed Trouten to run through all on his own to plant the ball past the exposed Samson.

A Roberts shot on the turn was tipped over while Prunty had a header turned aside as Ayr battled in vain for a consolation.

Airdrie boss Kenny Black admitted: "Even at 3-1, I wasn't comfortable. We're not out of the woods yet, all we have done is win a game but now we can target Morton."

STAR MEN: ***Ryan Borris; **Billy Gibson; *Mark Roberts.

AIRDRIE - Robertson; McCann, Storey, McDonald, Donnelly, Nixon, Trouten (Smith 86), McLaughlin, O'Carroll (Keegan 84), Baird (Watt 84), Waddell. Unused subs: Lovering, Hollis; Booked: Nixon, Trouten.

AYR - Samson; Connolly (C. Aitken 74), Gibson, Campbell, A. Aitken (N. McGowan 54); R. McGowan, Keenan, Stevenson, Borris (Cawley 80); Prunty, Roberts. Unused subs: Gormley, Grindlay; Booked: Samson, Campbell, R. McGowan, Roberts.

Referee - Lee Evans; Crowd - 1184.