AYR United reignited their play-off ambitions as they moved back into third spot in the Championship after Lawrence Shankland netted his 33rd goal of the season. The striker scored the only goal of a nervous game from the spot shortly before the interval as Ian McCall’s side enjoyed only their second home win in their last 10 games.
"Everyone keeps telling me about form tables but I don't give a monkey's about that,” said McCall. “We're third in the league. It's a big three points. And our fans just have to look at the bottom of the league and see the size of the clubs struggling.”
Six points off of second-placed Dundee United but with a game in hand, this was an anxious victory at times but one which puts Ayr back in the mix as they push for a play-off spot. The teams meet at Tannadice on Friday night in a game that will give the Somerset Park side an ideal platform to put pressure on United going into the season's finale.
And if McCall was enthused at the spirit of the performance he applauded the contribution of his captain who showed significant fortitude to make it through the 90 minutes.
"I have to give a word to Steven Bell who has five or six stitches in his ankle which got infected and he could barely walk this morning,” said McCall. "I thought he was absolutely outstanding against one of the best target men in the league in Lyndon Dykes. It was a big win for us but we should have been three or four up at half time.”
If it was a good night at the office for the hosts, for Queen of the South it is a defeat that risks dragging them into the dogfight at the bottom. The portents for the visitors were not good when Stephen Dobbie was forced off with a hamstring injury just before the half-hour mark and without their top scorer the visitors looked bereft of any real attacking threat.
Ayr dominated the opening stages of the game with a glut of chances but were repeatedly wasteful in front of goal. Shankland and Andy Geggan both had decent chances blocked in the opening minutes but the best chance of the lot when on-loan Celt Calvin Miller laid the ball into his path only for the striker to blast wildly over the gaping target.
But just before the interval, the hosts finally got their lead. Josh Todd upended Robbie Crawford in the box and from the resultant spot-kick, Shankland put Ayr in front with a rasping effort that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and into the net. If the award itself seemed dubious – both players seemed to come together – Ayr’s control of the game was not in question with the lead a justified reflection of that.
Shankland’s stats from his 37 appearances this term have brought significant speculation around his future at the club with Rangers strongly linked with the prolific forward.
Queen of the South almost made Ayr’s profligacy pay shortly after the restart when Todd’s cross was met by Ian McGrath but, with the goal at his mercy, his header went wide of the target.
Ayr almost doubled their lead and wrapped up the points in the process when Declan McDaid’s cross was headed just wide of the target. Miller was next up to attempt to source the killer second when he drove at the Queens defence before being upended. The resultant free-kick came to nothing as the sense of frustration and nerves started to grow.
Jack Leighfield denied Shankland a second with a decent stop but the second goal continued to prove elusive.
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