Gretna 2008 0
Ayr United 1
Raydale Cup (Raydale Cup)

Match Report

Ayr, with two trialist forwards upfront, were first out of the traps instantly in the attack and in only two minutes had the first chance. With the ball swung in from the left Craig McCracken rose to powerfully header goal-ward, but with the goalkeeper well beaten Gretna somehow managed to scramble the ball off the line and away.

This early fright seemed to shock Gretna into action and six minutes the impressive Brandon Longcake surged forward and was only denied by a last-minute tackle by Gerry McLaughlin. From the resultant corner Dean Smith found the head of centre half Alan Inglis whose header went narrowly wide.

Gretna were beginning to cause Ayr considerable problems with wingers Longcake and Smith tantalising the Ayr defence and centre forward Iain Anderson running the channels. Ayr found it difficult to mount successful attacks with the trialist forwards appearing uncomfortable and unable to link up successfully with the promptings of Trouten, Murphy and Donald in particular.

In the 26 minute Ayr keeper Greg Fleming pulled of an excellent save from Longcake who controlled a long ball to the edge of the penalty area before turning and lashing the ball goal-ward. Fleming reacted quickly and his threw himself at full stretch to his left tipping the ball away.

Ayr reacted instantly, with Mikey Donald driving down the left and playing an inch perfect pass to Trouten whose turn and drive flew narrowly over.

Things were beginning to get a bit tasty with tackles flying in and a number of personal ‘battles’ breaking out. This was not for the fainthearted and at points it looked like it might get out of control as tempers frayed in the heat. It was however surprising that Ayr’s Trouten became the first player of the tournament to be booked for dissent. During the period of armed neutrality at half time manager McCall started phase one of his master plan to create what he believed was probably ‘the youngest Ayr team to win a trophy’.

Fleming, Boyle, Trouten, Murphy and one trialist made way for Newman, Wardrope, the experienced Gilmour, Nisbet and McKenzie.

From the kick-off Nisbet and McKenzie began to torture the Gretna defence. The previously impenetrable Gretna backline seemed unable to deal with and Nisbet’s speedy darting run runs and McKenzie’s close control and ability to pick out Nisbet with laser-like accuracy. After only one minute on the park McKenzie controlled the ball before turning and ranging down the right-hand side before playing the ball into Nisbet on the edge of the box allowing him to drive the ball towards goal.

Two minutes later Nisbet returned the compliment putting McKenzie through into the box but he was denied by a good save by Parker in the Gretna goals.

On 48 minutes an atrocious tackle from behind on Mikey Donald resulted in Gretna winger Dean Smith receiving a yellow card.

The balance of the game had totally turned with the Ayr youngsters using their pace and skill to take the game to Gretna. McKenzie, Nisbet and Michael Wardrope all created chances but were denied by last minute tackles and the agile Parker.

Then came a moment of near tragedy for United when Wardrope attempted to clear from his own penalty area only to see it blast of the head of the unaware Scott Milligan and return at pace towards the Ayr goal. Fortunately keeper Shaun Newman was alert and scrambled back to clutch the ball on the line.

Ayr continued to press forward with McLaughlan’s deft flick at the front post going inches over, Nisbet pulling out an excellent save from Parker, and on 73 minutes a Gilmour freekick from the edge of the box saw the keeper again doing the miraculous by getting his hand to the ball and tipping it onto the bar. There was a feeling that something was about to happen and happen it did.

McKenzie picked up the ball just inside the Gretna half and pushed forward with Nisbet running decoy to his left. The Gretna defence was pulled out of position and McKenzie picked out Gilmour to his right in acres of space. Gilmour composed himself and dispatched the ball past the despairing keeper and into the net.gilly gretna

Another late tackle, this time by Gretna’s Danny Graham, resulted in another yellow card.

This had now become comfortable for United who had, throughout the half, added to the teams young look by replacing trialist 2, Donald and captain Nicky Devlin with Jamie Ballantyne, Stuart Faulds and James Hilton who all to slipped into their roles with ease.

At the final whistle Nicky Devlin received the Raydale Cup in front of a delighted band of travelling fans.

Match report written by Ayr United FC Official Website