Saturday 25th February 2012 – Ayr United FC 3-1 Livingston FC
Having recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory in his first match in charge, John Hughes took to the road as the Lions made the trip to Somerset Park. Having held us to a 0-0 draw there earlier in the season then dumped us out of the Scottish Cup in January, Ayr have proved to be somewhat of a bogey team so far this term.
Hughes was forced into making one change to his starting line-up with Dean Cummings starting in midfield in place of the injured Stefan Scougall. Youngster Jack Beaumont took Cummings place on the bench alongside Rory Boulding who replaced Dylan Easton.
Last weeks win was clearly still in the mind of the Lions as they raced out the traps, dominating the early stages of the match. Bobby Barr was first to test experienced ‘keeper Kevin Cuthbert but his stinging shot from the right wing was easily palmed wide. However, from the resultant corner, Dean Cummings fired Livi into the lead. Jason Talbot played a short corner to Keaghan Jacobs and he picked out Barr on the edge of the box. Barr drilled a low shot goal wards and Cummings was on hand to stab the ball beyond Cuthbert and into the net.
It was a brilliant start from Livi and the lead was nearly doubled soon after. Liam Fox and Keaghan Jacobs linked well in the middle of the park with the latter playing the ball in behind the Ayr defence for Barr to run on to but after disposing of his man, he shot straight at Cuthbert who turned the ball behind for a corner. Jacobs was involved again as the McNulty this time went close to finding the net. Cuthbert rolled the ball out to Adam Dodd but Jacobs was quick to react and nicked the ball from the defender and squared it to McNulty but as he pulled the trigger, Eddie Malone slid in and made the block.
Paul Watson then galloped forward after making an interception on the halfway line but he couldn’t get enough power on his shot and it trickled through to Cuthbert. Generating power wasn’t a problem for Jacobs though as shortly after, he bulleted a shot at goal from Barr’s lay-off but Cuthbert pulled off a brilliant save, getting fingertips on the ball to tip it over.
As seems to have been the case on a number of occasions this season though, not taking chances came back to haunt Livi as Ayr grabbed themselves an equaliser. Michael McGowan’s corner from the right fell fortuitously to Andy Geggan and the ex-Livi youngster made no mistake, thumping the ball past the helpless McNeill.
This goal gave Ayr a bit of confidence about their game and they began to put more pressure on the Livi defence. Mark Roberts picked out McGowan at the back post and despite having acres of space, the midfielder snatched at his shot and pulled it wide. Roberts himself then came close, latching on to Keigan Parker’s cross to fire at goal but McNeill, at full stretch, pushed the ball wide.
Into the second-half and the first chance fell to Livi. Ross Docherty did well down the right before finding Bobby Barr who slipped Kyle Jacobs through on goal but despite beating the ‘keeper, he could only roll the ball wide of the post.
Ayr pushed on, looking to take the lead and they didn’t have long to wait. Craig Barr had done well to block a shot and concede a corner but from the resultant kick, McGowan found the head of Eddie Malone and despite his first attempt being blocked by Paul Watson, he followed up the rebound and knocked the ball over the line to put Ayr ahead. The Livi players rushed to the officials claiming a hand had been used but referee Craig Thomson confirmed the goal after discussions with his linesman.
The home fans had barely finished celebrating before Ayr made it three. The Livi defence were caught sleeping as Dodd took a short corner and whipped the ball to the back-post where Geggan rose highest to nod the ball in and notch his second goal of the game. It was a real disastrous few minutes for Livi and Geggan went close to claiming a hat trick when he drove forward and fired a shot away but Craig Barr done enough to deflect the ball wide.
The Lions didn’t give up though and continued to press forward hoping to find a route back into the game. Dean Cummings glanced a header into Barr’s path and he drilled a low shot forward but Cuthbert got down well to turn the ball round the post. Kyle Jacobs then won possession in midfield and linked up well with McNulty but when he finally made space for a shot, he could only drag his effort wide.
With Livi pushing forward looking to claw a goal back, the last chance of the match fell to Ayr but after McGowan fed the ball through to Roberts, the veteran striker could only shoot straight at McNeill.
Free match highlights, courtesy of LIVItv, available here - http://www.livingstonfc.co.uk/livitv.php
No comments:
Post a Comment