Ladbrokes League One

QUEEN's PARK 1

AYR UNITED 4

by Calum Campbell

Pictures: David Sargent

HAMPDEN Park welcomed Ayr with rain, a cold, blustery, swirling wind and a Queen's Park team determined to grab points and drag themselves away from ninth place.

Spiders head coach, Gus MacPherson, had set up his team to try and take the game to Ayr but in the end, they could not deal with United’s clinical finishing and spark of genius in front of goal as the visitors regained top spot with victory.

The match started off at pace, with tricky home winger David Galt darting forward with only the speedy response of defender Craig Reid allowing United to force the ball out of play.

In the week in which we celebrated the birth of our National Bard, for Queen's the words "the best-laid plans’ were never more true than when in five minutes they were hit with a double whammy. Ayr played the ball out from goalie Jack Ruddy and, from a ball forward by Reid, Shankland nodded to Declan McDaid then received the ball back before again finding McDaid, who surged forward before smashing the ball across to the six-yard box where Craig Moore stroked home..

Although Ayr looked dangerous, Queen’s Park had more possession throughout the first half. The Spiders had their chances and a 30-yard drive from Sean Burns in 25 minutes produced a good save from Ruddy.

Queen's then pressed the self-destruct button. Cummins let a pass from Robbie Leitch go past him, expecting his keeper to be there, but he wasn’t. Lawrence Shankland nipped in and stole the ball before pulling both defender and keeper to one side and then finding Forrest who turned the ball home in 42 minutes.

Queen's had the first real chance of the second half. Sean Burns out-muscled United captain, Paddy Boyle at the edge of the Queen’s penalty area. Burns then charged into the United half before finding Billy Mortimer and the striker hit the ball into the six-yard box where Leitch shot wide.

Then came a moment of controversy. After play stopped due to a suspected injury a drop ball was arranged and after what seemed like an arrangement with Queen's Park, Ayr defender David Ferguson stepped away expecting Queens’ substitute Aiden Keena to return the ball to Ayr’s advantage. The young Hearts loanee instead sprinted away with the ball and made his way goalward evading tackles before Forrest blocked his path in the penalty area. Loud booing rang out.

Boyle then drove into the box before seeing this powerful drive saved acrobatically by Michael Williams.

In 76 minutes Craig McGuffie was unleashed on the unsuspecting Queens’ defence. The result was a golden-double in eight minutes.

Ayr won the ball some 30 yards from their own goal in 79 minutes. Some cute one-touch play between Geggan and new signing Mark Kerr found Michael Moffat on the halfway line and he lifted the ball first time over the defence to Shankland. On his second attempt, the striker passed the ball along the 18-yard line to Kerr who delightfully flicked the ball to McGuffie and the youngster curled the ball home from 20 yards.

In 88 minutes, Moffat found McGuffie at the edge of the area. Drifting into the penalty area, a couple of step-overs to confuse defenders and create space, a quick look up, shift to the left foot and exquisitely curl the ball between two markers, around the keeper and in off the back post.

Disappointing for United was the momentary switch off just one minute later when Cummins rose at the back post to meet an inswinging corner and head home.