ON a grey day, the rustic environs of Somerset Park were host to an abomination. Ayr United played, like their nickname, The Honest Men, with enterprise, desire and a modicum of ability. Stranraer were bereft of anything useful as they subjected their small band of supporters to perhaps the most pathetic team performance they will ever see.
It was an insult to Keith Knox, the Stranraer manager, whose attempts to rally his charges fell on deaf ears, the director who sat slumped in his seat massaging his temple, and to supporters who needn't have bothered coming.
Knox cut a forlorn figure afterwards and wasn't joking when he said members of the public could be offered a game. "It is okay for them. They disappear after the game - especially after a home game - up to Glasgow. Whether they think about the club or not I have no idea. Teams are not working hard to get their goals and that is the disappointing thing," he lamented.
A 4-5-1 formation was designed to stifle Ayr but their resistance was half-hearted. The first goal, after 23 minutes was reason to give up the fight. Bryan Prunty had no need to jump to beat James Creaney and head Neil McGowan's cross beyond the stranded Scott Black. Ayr scored twice in two minutes just before the interval. Ryan Stevenson tapped the ball into the net with no defender within three yards before Neil McGowan, again without jumping, beat a defender to head in.
Another goal came after 48 minutes when Mark Roberts broke on the left and crossed for Chris Aitken to lash home in an empty penalty box. Stranraer could not clear the ball properly. Incredibly at corners, they did not look to pick up an opposite number.
Ayr capped a resounding win, which strengthens their grip at the top of the league, when Alex Williams rounded Black and tapped in with ten minutes left.
Brian Reid, the Ayr manager, was delighted with his side's performance: "There will still be twists and turns, but we're in a good position. It's up to us to keep ourselves there."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article