WHEN Manuel Pascali offered an arch reference to Ayr United's catenaccio approach, his playful observation was not entirely without admiration.
The Italian captain of Kilmarnock was able to appreciate such adherence to principles revered in his homeland, even if his manager was only able to offer scorn.
With scant disregard for the protocol of the occasion, Kenny Shiels accused Ayr of being intent on reducing the game to a penalty competition, of parking the bus and not showing any ambition to win the match in normal time. A body of evidence that included just one shot on target during the 120 minutes suggests the Rugby Park manager to be entirely correct but Adam Dodd, the Ayr midfielder, refuted any such suggestions.
"We tried to win it," said the on-loan Blackpool youngster, a second-half substitute. "We frustrated their fans and you could see we had them rattled because they were getting annoyed with misplaced passes. There is a huge difference between part-time and full-time and we put in a real effort and deserved to get something out of the game, or at least take it to penalties."
For all Dodd's protestations, it is difficult to shake the suspicion that more than a few occupants of a moribund Ayr dressing room will take more regret than memories from this showpiece. Granted, the Somerset Park side might lack the pace to stretch the game on the vast Hampden surface, or the technical ability to maintain possession and work openings, but a late flurry after Dean Shiels scored in extra-time did suggest that they had enough about them to trouble their more feted rivals.
The first division side certainly were not lacking in determination, their desire fuelled not only by the derby atmosphere but also by a perceived slight. "There was a picture from the paper cut out and stuck to the dressing room wall," explained Dodd. "It had a caption saying how Kilmarnock were expecting to use the game to get used to Hampden before the final and that was our big motivation. But football is cruel at times."
As Ayr discovered on Saturday, football managers can be too.
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