Ayr United 3
Buckie Thistle 2
Scottish League Cup (Premier Sports Cup)


Ayr United
3 - 2
Buckie Thistle 

Scottish League Cup (Premier Sports Cup)
Saturday, July 27th, 2024
Somerset Park
Attendance: 1,514

Goalscorers
Jay Henderson (30)
Jay Henderson (43)
Jake Hastie (67)
Josh Peters (45)
Jack Maciver (57)

Team Managers
Scott Brown
Lewis Mackinnon

Starting Eleven
31. Harry Stone
33. Scott McMann
32. Dylan Watret
14. George Stanger
3. Patrick Reading
15. Jamie Murphy
17. Jay Henderson
8. Ben Dempsey
23. Marcus Rus
9. George Oakley
7. Anton Dowds
1 (G) M Ridgers
1 (G) S Knight
5 (D) I McKay
14 (D) J McCabe
16 (D) R Fyffe
17 (D) C Ramsay (71)
10 (M) A MacAskill (75)
11 (M) J Maciver
11 (M) J McLeod
15 (M) S Pugh
18 (M) F Robertson (71)
20 (M) M Goodall
Yellow card 9 (F) J Peters (75)

Bench
38. Liam Russel
20. Roy Syla
4. Frankie Musonda
2. Nick McAllister
22. Mark McKenzie
24. Scott Tomlinson
29. Lucas McRoberts
11. Fraser Bryden
16. Jake Hastie
12 (G) E Storrier
3 (D) D McHardy (71)
4 (D) S Morrison
6 (D) L MacKinnon
19 (D) H Munro
21 (D) D Dale Wood (71)
7 (M) K Fraser (75)
22 (F) L Keir (75)

Substitutions
Jake Hastie for Jamie Murphy (45)
Frankie Musonda for Dylan Watret (64)
Fraser Bryden for Anton Dowds (64)
Scott Tomlinson for Jay Henderson (80)
None.

Cautions
Jay Henderson
None.

Red Cards
None. None.
Match Officials

Colin Steven (Referee)


Match Report


BEN Dempsey admits Ayr only have themselves to blame after tumbling out of the Premier Sports Cup.

United fluffed their lines in a final day shootout against Highland League champs Buckie Thistle as a 3-2 win wasn't enough to challenge for the knockout stages. Despite three wins in Group B, Ayr will not progress after finishing third on goal difference.

Boss Scott Brown criticised his side for a lack of a "ruthless" instinct after spurning a number of golden chances, and new skipper Dempsey confessed they could - and should - have run up a cricket score.

He told the Ayrshire Post: "We always knew it was going to be a tough group, but you'd liked to have thought nine points would have been enough. Sadly that wasn't the case for us.

"We know if we'd taken our chances, we could easily have scored six or seven today. But at the same time we conceded two sloppy goals and that's not good enough. They caught us off guard a couple of times and we need to work on that and improve.

"It feels weird to be disappointed after finishing the group with nine points, but we've definitely shown enough in pre-season and the cup to know we're in good shape going into the league season."

Dempsey has been handed the captain's armband by Brown in what is his third season at United. The former Charlton midfielder admits it's a new role but one he's relishing.

He said: "I wasn't really expecting it when I came in at the start of the season but the gaffer has shown that faith in me and I'm relishing the role. It's a new resposibility for me and I'm just trying to take it game by game and be a leader out there for the boys. I'm not one to scream and shout for the sake of it but if there's something to be said then I'm not afraid to say it.

"It means a lot to have someone like the gaffer showing that faith in me - there's no better person than him to learn from in the game and I try and take it in each and every day in training. I just want to repay that trust he's shown in me."

Brown had restored Marco Rus to the starting line-up following his suspension while there was also a first start of the season for Jamie Murphy. And Ayr almost got a flier after just 20 seconds when Jay Henderson's long range lob was tipped over by Mark Ridgers.

George Oakley sent a point blank header straight at Ridgers before Ayr made their pressure tell when Henderson ran through to bury a fine effort. Then came the game's big flashpoint when Buckie's Josh Peters somehow stayed on the park after an X-rated lunge on George Stanger - ref Colin Steven only deeming it a yellow card.

But Ayr doubled their lead with a brilliantly taken goal when Dempsey fed Anton Dowds and his pass was turned home by Henderson. However, United couldn't reach the break with the two goal lead intact and their anger at Peters staying on the park intensified when the same man scored from a corner.

As Ayr turned to shoot towards the Railway End in the second half, their pursuit of goals ultimately fell flat as the visitors sat in and hit on the break to good effect. Dowds passed up another gilt edged chance before Buckie levelled when slack defending afforded Jack MacIver space to rifle past Harry Stone from 20 yards.

Ayr did force their way back in front when sub Jake Hastie, who injected some much needed urgency after half time, thundered home a fine finish. But it wasn't enough for Ayr to put themselves in the picture for a runners-up place.

Boss Brown slammed referee Steven for his first half call to keep striker Peters on the pitch, saying: "I don't know what he and the linesman are watching. It's one of the worst tackles I've seen in a long time. You're trying to score goals and you have the referee against you in that scenario - watching it back it was a disgrace.

"We've gone out because we didn't score enough goals and we didn't look ruthless enough. Yeah we created chances but we never really looked like scoring a lot. And we always look like giving people chances. These games are never easy and we warned them about that beforehand."

Match report written by Ayrshire Post



Squad Statistics (as at July 27th, 2024)


2024-25 All Time
Age
Harry Stone (GK)22 4 - 4 -
Patrick Reading25 4 - 1473
George Stanger23 4 - 382
Dylan Watret17 3 - 6 -
Scott McMann28 4 - 4 -
Marcus Rus21 3131
Ben Dempsey24 3 - 8512
Jay Henderson22 4343
Jamie Murphy34 2 - 417
George Oakley28 4141
Anton Dowds27 423516
Frankie Musonda (sub)26 21545
Scott Tomlinson (sub)18 3 - 21 -
Fraser Bryden (sub)20 4 - 728
Jake Hastie (sub)25 4141






League Table (as at July 27th, 2024)


Pld W D L Pts

No games played.