Ayr United 1
St Johnstone 2
Scottish Cup


Ayr United
1 - 2
St Johnstone 

Scottish Cup
Saturday, February 8th, 2020
Somerset Park
Attendance: 2,625

Goalscorers
Aaron Drinan (4)
Muirhead (18' og), Hendry (27')

Team Managers
Mark Kerr
Tommy Wright

Starting Eleven
1. Ross Doohan
15. Steven Bell
3. Daniel Harvie
Jordan Houston
11. Luke McCowan
30. Steven Kelly
10. Alan Forrest
2. Aaron Muirhead
4. Mark Kerr
Grant Gillespie
Aaron Drinan
1 Clark
21 Ralston
15 Kerr
4 McCart
24 Booth
7 Wright
10 Wotherspoon
26 Craig
18 McCann
22 Hendry
14 May

Bench
19. Ellis Hare Reid
Connor Malley
5. Sam Roscoe
22. Mark McKenzie
Paul Smith
7. Michael Moffat
Scott Tiffoney
3 Tanser
9 Kane
12 Parish
16 Butcher
19 Holt
20 Jones
23 Gordon

Substitutions
Sam Roscoe for Luke McCowan (28)
Scott Tiffoney for Mark Kerr (54)
Michael Moffat for Alan Forrest (68)
None.

Cautions
Grant Gillespie
None.

Red Cards
Aaron Muirhead (26)
None.
Match Officials

Steven McLean (Referee)


Match Report


Aaron Muirhead scored an own goal and was sent off as second-tier Ayr United were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by top-flight St Johnstone.

Ayr, who shocked Ross County in the last round, led through Aaron Drinan's strike but Muirhead was credited with the goal that drew Saints level.

The defender then saw red for a tackle on Liam Craig moments before Callum Hendry headed the visitors in front.

The Perth team controlled the second half to secure a quarter-final berth.

The draw takes place on Sunday afternoon with the ties to be played over the weekend of 29 February.

No repeat of cup glory for Ayr

It was some first half at Somerset Park, with Muirhead the pantomime villain. Ayr were leading by a goal coolly executed by Ipswich loanee Drinan, when Muirhead took centre stage.

First he was booked for a rash tackle and then he looked to be the scorer of an own goal. A hopeful cross from the left held up in the wind and deceived Ayr goalkeeper Ross Doohan and, as Muirhead and Hendry jumped, the ball seemed to come off the United player. Hendry, inevitably, claimed it.

But worse followed. Muirhead was on the end of a straight red card - not a second yellow - for his reckless challenge on Craig.

And from the resulting free-kick St Johnstone worked the ball down the right and on to the head of Hendry, who made it 2-1.

The Perth side had further chances after the break with Hendry and David Wotherspoon testing Doohan while Ayr struggled to regain a foothold in the match.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "The conditions were horrendous and our start was just as bad. But after that we settled into the game, got a good equaliser and even against 11 men we took control. We should have scored more goals second half.

"We can dream of winning the cup - but we need to see who we get in the draw. You only need to win five games and now we've won two of them."

Ayr United player-manager Mark Kerr: "I thought Aaron's first challenge was all right, I didn't think it was a yellow card but maybe it was.

"But the second one, it's so close to the first yellow that it's stupid. You've got to just hold back a wee bit and I think Aaron knows that."

Match report written by BBC



Squad Statistics (as at February 8th, 2020)


2019-20 All Time
Age
Ross Doohan (GK)21 28 - 38 -
Steven Bell34 171251
Jordan Houston20 20 - 20 -
Daniel Harvie21 281351
Steven Kelly19 286286
Luke McCowan22 268268
Grant Gillespie28 2 - 2 -
Mark Kerr - 18 - 26 -
Aaron Muirhead - 251251
Alan Forrest - 2893711
Aaron Drinan21 4141
Sam Roscoe (sub) - 212212
Scott Tiffoney (sub) - 2 - 2 -
Michael Moffat (sub)34 296387






League Table (as at February 8th, 2020)


No league table has been added for this season.