Alan Cochrane @ Somerset Park
A mid-winter, old fashioned, blood and thunder cup tie, in front of an (almost) full house, with the wind roaring and the rain lashing - what more could any football man or woman want? From walking across the pot-holed car park, to sitting in the sadly dilapidated old stadium, you could have been back in the era of players in big brown boots with toe caps, and goalkeepers wearing flat caps and being described as custodians. And the final score was absolutely right, and both clubs deservedly will get another pay day out of it.
Despite the conditions, with a swirling wind and heavy rain, an early goal should have settled Kilmarnock, but Ayr came roaring back, got an equaliser, and certainly deserved to go in all square at the break. The same, but different, was true of the second half. Killie again got an early goal, missed a penalty half way through, Ayr made a change late in the game, and the substitute scored in the last minute. You could be reading this in "the Wizard" or "the Hotspur"
Killie's early breakthrough came when Fernandez and Bryson worked a short corner, Fernandez crossed, and Pascali knocked the ball in at the back post. Ayr responded 6 minutes later, when Stevenson crossed from the left, Prunty flicked it on, and Keenan headed in at the back post. Ayr could have gone ahead two minutes later when Scott Walker missed a header, again at the back post, when it looked easier to score, but despite their great start, Kilmarnock failed to really trouble Stephen Grindlay in the Ayr Goal.
Killie got caught up in the excitement of it all, and didn't get the ball down and play controlled football. David Fernandez was the only player on the pitch who wasn't trying to kick a hole in the ball, and Ayr were the more successful in the mid-field skirmishing that was going on. Only towards the end of the half did Killie string 6 or 7 passes together, finishing with Willie Gibson crossing onto the top of the Ayr goal, and no doubt Jim and Billy were encouraging them to do more of that after the break.
They did take it to heart, and for the second half, Gibson, Bryson and Invincibile all looked more like the players they are. The reward came quickly, and when Gibson fired in a low, diagonal cross, Bryson zipped in to nick the ball past Grindlay. The keeper did well to save soon after when Russell got on the end of a Hay shot close in, and then a Frazer Wright header from a free kick went narrowly wide. The game should have been put to bed in the 69th minute when Garry Hay was unceremoniously dumped on his backside in the box, but Grindlay guessed right, dived right, and made a right good save from Russell's spot kick.
That gave Ayr the lift they needed, and they stormed at the Killie goal, hunting in packs for the equalizer. A Stevenson cross behind the defence was just beyond Prunty's reach, an almighty scramble in the box had Rascle making two saves, defenders were blocking on the line, and corners getting fired in high to swirl and swerve in the air like demented Frisbees.
With five minutes left, Williams came on for Dempsie, and if ever a tactical change was inspired, this was it. From a corner on the left, the ball broke to him on the edge of the box, and with less than 60 seconds left, he fairly rattled in Ayr's second goal. It was hard for Kilmarnock to take, players and supporters, but it was no more than Ayr deserved, because as well as coming from behind twice, they kept going right to the end
Jim Jefferies couldn't fault the players in conditions like these. If we had scored from the penalty, he thought we would have gone on and won, but we are still in the cup, and he is looking forward to the replay. If it wasn't the most cultured match ever seen, he did enjoy it as an old fashioned derby, and while he is sure the replay will not be easy, the light of battle was definitely in his eye at the end. Don't miss the replay.
Ayr: Grindlay, Dempsie (Williams), McGowan, Walker, Campbell, Stevenson, Keenan, Aitken, Prunty, Gormley, Easton
Kilmarnock: Rascle, Fowler, Hay, Wright, Russell, Murray, Gibson, Bryson, Fernandez, Invincibile, Pascali
Referee: Steve Conroy
