Queen's Park 2
Ayr United 0
League (Championship)


Queen's Park 

2 - 0

Ayr United


League (Championship)
Friday, February 3rd, 2023
Attendance: 1,192


Goalscorers
Thomas (59 pen)
McAllister (77 og)
None.

Team Managers
Tommy Robson Lee Bullen

Starting Eleven
1 Ferrie
2 Oakley
4 Kilday
5 Fox
3 Robson
8 Thomson
42 Boateng
11 Thomas
21 Savoury
10 McPake
29 Shields
Charlie Albinson
Patrick Reading
Alex Kirk
Sean McGinty
Reece Mcalear
Michael Hewitt
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson
Nick McAllister
Ben Dempsey
Josh Mullin
Dipo Akinyemi

Bench
7 Longridge
9 Henderson
12 Davidson
17 Heraghty
19 Williamson
22 Healy
25 Bannon
27 Jarrett
66 Eze
Aiden McAdams
Jordan Houston
Kinlay Bilham
Dylan Watret
Daire OConnor
Mark McKenzie
Fraser Bryden
Paul Smith

Substitutions
2 Oakley for Davidson 69'minutes
8 Thomson for Longridge 81'minutes
21 Savoury for Jarrett 90'minutes
29 Shields for Henderson 90'minutes
Mark McKenzie for Michael Hewitt (60)
Jordan Houston for Nick McAllister (80)
Fraser Bryden for Josh Mullin (80)
Daire OConnor for Reece Mcalear (86)
Paul Smith for Jayden Mitchell-Lawson (86)

Cautions
Fox
Boateng
Shields
None.

Red Cards
None. None.

Match Officials

Steven McLean (Referee)



Photography by SNS Group

Match Report


Two second-half goals extended Queen's Park's lead over Ayr at the top of the Scottish Championship and salved the pain of their Scottish Cup elimination for fielding an ineligible player.

Grant Savoury spurned a great first-half chance as the hosts pressed, skewing his shot wide.

Dom Thomas slotted home a penalty after a barge by Ayr's Nick McAllister.

Calum Ferrie saved a fine Dipo Akinyemi header to deny an equaliser before McAllister's own-goal settled the game.

Owen Coyle's team were worthy winners but the visitors showed why they too are title contenders.

Akinyemi proved a threat to the league leaders throughout the match, but Queen's Park defender Lee Kilday matched him well, and it took a Tommy Robson goal-line clearance midway through the second half to deny Jayden Mitchell-Lawson whose low shot through a mass of legs looked like it might make it 1-1.

Connor Shields, making his debut after a loan move from Motherwell, terrorised Ayr down the right wing and his low cross for Savoury was as appetising as they come. His team-mate made a poor connection and the ball flew off his heel and wide of Charlie Albinson's net.

Later, the Ayr goalkeeper dived low to parry a Jack Thomson shot from a tight angle and Lee Bullen's men blocked the attempted shots from the rebound to clear.

Michael Hewitt knocked a shot from the D a foot over Ferrie's crossbar in the first action of the second half, and at the other end Albinson made an instinctive save at his near post to keep out a Savoury shot after a good run by Shields.

Thomas tucked home his left-footed penalty just inside the Ayr post, the preceding blatant push in the back by McAllister giving referee Steven McLean an easy decision to make.

And the contest was settled when McAllister, perhaps caught in two minds, turned the ball into his own net from three yards with his right foot when on another day he would have angled his body to clear it with his left.

Dundee, in third, have two games in hand. Two wins would put them a point above Queen's Park at the summit.

Queen's Park captain Tommy Robson: "It's a great result. We've had a tough week. The result against Dundee last week was poor for us so it was great to bounce back.

"Everyone chips in together as a team. Both centre-halves were outstanding. We've seen how much of a threat Akinyemi's been all season, so to manage him how they did was outstanding."

Ayr United manager Lee Bullen: "It's frustrating the way we lose goals. It's mistakes. I thought we showed a little bit more character in the second half, even though we lost the two goals.

"The teams that are better in both boxes tend to go on and win games in this league, and that was Queen's Park tonight. They were ruthless in our box, and we weren't ruthless enough in their box. We didn't seem to test their keeper enough. We'll come back stronger."

Match report written by BBC



Squad Statistics (as at February 3rd, 2023)


2022-23 All Time
Age
Charlie Albinson (GK)26 25 - 36 -
Alex Kirk20 192192
Patrick Reading23 29 - 943
Sean McGinty29 252603
Ben Dempsey23 306376
Nick McAllister22 211341
Jayden Mitchell-Lawson - 201201
Michael Hewitt22 10 - 23 -
Reece Mcalear20 1 - 1 -
Josh Mullin - 188188
Dipo Akinyemi25 30173017
Jordan Houston (sub)23 2011011
Daire OConnor (sub)25 16 - 411
Mark McKenzie (sub)22 2841008
Paul Smith (sub)20 15 - 24 -
Fraser Bryden (sub)18 121242






League Table (as at February 3rd, 2023)


Pld W D L Pts
1. Queen's Park 23 13 4 6 43
2. Ayr United 23 11 6 6 39
3. Dundee 21 11 5 5 38
4. Partick Thistle 22 10 3 9 33
5. ICT 22 8 7 7 31
6. Morton 21 8 6 7 30
7. Raith Rovers 23 8 6 9 30
8. Cove Rangers 22 5 7 10 22
9. Arbroath 23 4 9 10 21
10. Hamilton Academical 22 4 5 13 17