Ayr United gaffer says team deserved better at Dundee

Feb 12 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

BRIAN REID backed goalie Craig Samson and insisted Ayr didn'tdeserve to see their Scottish Cup dream end in tatters.

And he challenged his men to put the deep disappointment behind them and go all out for league safety.

Samson, Ayr's star performer this season, elected to punch a Gary Harkins free-kick with 20 minutes to go and the ball spun in off the face of Leigh Griffiths for a fluke winner.

Reid groaned: "I've said to the big man and he knows himself that he maybe should have caught it. But he punched it and thedeflection could have gone anywhere but it ended up in the back of net.

"Unfortunately, luck went against us today but I am not going to criticise Samson – the big man has been magnificent for us this season.

"People will make individual errors but I am not going to criticise named players. It's just one of those things."

Reid felt the sickening defeat, a carbon copy of the league reverse at Dens Park in December, was harsh.

He claimed: "We started the game with a well worked goal and were looking decent enough in the first-half. Then we lost a poor goal and let them back in it at a horrible time just before the interval.

"A ricochet in the middle of the park, then it bobbles in front of my keeper, it comes off him and a defender slips when about to clear.

"I thought we deserved to go in at half-time at least a goal up. The players are bitterly disappointed they didn't get anything from the game.

"It was the same story the last time we were here but I felt more today and thought we at least deserved a draw.

"We had great backing from the supporters and it's just a pity we couldn't give them the result that they deserved. It was a great effort by the players and on another day luck might have been on our side and we could have been in the next round."

Tam McManus, on his return to his old Dens Park stomping ground, took only 11 minutes to be an instant debut hit.

The hard working Ryan Borris broke down the left and cut the ball back to McManus who smashed it home in off Eddie Malone who was desperately trying to clear.

Ayr were up for the cup and a good run by Ryan McGowan ended with a shot from Mark Roberts which Rab Douglas superbly tipped past for a corner.

An amazing miss by Harkins let Ayr off the hook after 20 minutes. Griffiths found the former Partick midfielder in acres of space but he fired past a gaping goal when the equaliser looked certain.

Ayr needed to hold firm until the break but they caved in with the whistle only five minutes away. Willie Easton was caught napping, Griffiths fired in a shot which Samson parried. McGowan slipped as he went to clear and on loan Celtic striker Ben Hutchinson made it a dream debut by cracking home the leveller.

Griffiths headed a Harkins free-kick off the bar as Ayr wavered but the interval arrived with no more damage.

United battled doggedly on the restart but had nothing of note to report in attack as the strikers were starved of the ball.

Inevitably, the defence creaked fatally in the 70th minute with Samson at fault. His poor decision to punch, instead of clutch, a Harkins free-kick succeeded only in hurling the ball off Griffiths who new little of his easiest goal of the season.

Easton cleared off the line while Junior Mendes replaced Alistair Woodburn with ten minutes to go. But Ayr never looked like pulling the tie out of the fire.

STAR MEN: ***Alistair Woodburn; **Willie Easton; *Andy Aitken.

DUNDEE - Douglas; Paton, Malone, Klimpl, MacKenzie, Lauchlan, Forsyth, Kerr, Griffiths (Shinnie 85), Hutchinson (McMenamin 80), Harkins. Unused subs: Soutar, Hart, Young.

AYR - Samson; McGowan, Aitken, Campbell, Easton; Woodburn (Mendes 81), K. Connolly, Keenan, Borris; McManus, Roberts. Unused subs: Grindlay, Cawley, A. Connolly, Tiffoney.

Referee - Dougie McDonald; Crowd - 2852.