Ayr United 2
Raith Rovers 0
League (Championship)

Match Report

The Honest Men maintained their three-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday courtesy of a 2-0 win over managerless Raith Rovers at Somerset, extending their 100 per cent record to a fourth game.

Shaun Byrne was sent off for conceding the penalty on 38 minutes that gave Ayr their opener, Anton Dowds converting from the spot for his sixth goal of the season, before sub Ethan Walker made the points safe late on against a Raith side who kept pressing despite being a man short.

Speaking to Ayr’s media team after the match, Brown said: “Raith finished second last season, and you could see why, but I thought our lads were excellent today.

“It’s hard when you go one up and you’re playing against 10 men that are willing to sit in but have good pace on the counter-attack, but I thought we dealt with it really well.”

Walker’s goal came after the winger, who moved north from Blackburn in the summer, replaced Jay Henderson for the final 12 minutes, and Brown said the substitute’s late strike underlined the importance of Ayr’s ‘whole squad’ approach this season.

“Ethan’s been in since the start of pre-season and he’s not had a lot of game time,” Brown said, “but you can see his quality there and his calmness at the end.

“We always talk about the subs that can come on, they can either win you or lose you the game and today – well, to be fair, since the start of the season – the lads have been doing really, really well, they’ve been coming on, they understood the game plan, the work rate, the energy they bring, but also the composure and the goal threat as well.

“There’s no individuals, it’s all about the team effort. We all work for one cause; that one cause is to try and win the game at the end of Saturday, and to make sure we’ve got three points on the board.

“ It doesn’t matter if you start or you don’t, you’re there for your team-mates.”

Match report written by Ayr Advertiser