Match Report
PARTY-POOPERS Ayr ruined Davie Cooper's home-coming. Clydebank's prodigal son was forced to take a back seat as Simon Stainrod's side blasted in two goals in the first 13 minutes.
To round off a miserable day for Bankies, sweeper Scott Murdoch was red-carded six minutes from time for his second booking.
In front of a bumper crowd, Ayr were gifted their stunning start by defensive errors.
Graham Hay was caught in possession by Ross Jack and he found Colin McGlashan who brilliantly side-footed the opener after seven minutes.
Six minutes later Greg Hood was left unmarked to head home Hugh Burns' wickedly curling corner.
Stainrod must have been delighted with his start in the Somerset Park hot-seat, but Cooper must have been wondering what it was all about.
Four minutes after scoring, Hood was booked for a foul on Craig Flannigan.
The others cautioned were Bankies' Paul Harvey, Tom Currie, Hay and visitor Jack.
Bankies' best first-half chance fell to Flannigan, who incredibly headed over from two yards after John Henry's chip had rebounded off the bar.
Cooper showed his class with some good touches and accurate passes, but his team-mates were not on the same planet! Bankies gave away the ball far too often to make any impact and the man they needed most - striker Ken Eadie - was sitting in the dug-out.
Ayr nearly increased their lead after 22 minutes when Barry Scott shot narrowly wide.
With new assistant boss Malcolm Shotton superbly organising the defence, United were rarely troubled.
Ex-Bankies keeper Willie Spence didn't have a save to make, although he was beaten by a Flannigan shot which also evaded the post.
Centre-half Currie also missed a chance to test Spence when he failed to make contact with Cooper's perfectly weighted free-kick.
Bankies introduced subs Colin Harris and Shaun Smith in the second-half, but were reduced to nine men when Smith limped off.
It was all so easy that Stainrod strolled on for the final few minutes.
CLYDEBANK - McQueen, Ferguson, Thomson, Murdoch, Currie, Hay, Cooper, Harvey, Flannigan, Henry, Jack. Subs - Harris, Smith, Monaghan (g).
AYR - Spence, Burns, Mair, Shotton, Hood, George, Lennox, Moore, Jack, McGlashan, Scott. Subs - Traynor, Stainrod, Grierson (g).
Match report written by Daily Record
