Partick Thistle 0
Ayr United 1
League Play Off (Premiership Quarter Final Leg 1)
Partick Thistle |
0 - 1 |
Ayr United |
 |
League Play Off (Premiership Quarter Final Leg 1) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
| None. |
Jamie Murphy (55) |
| Team Managers | |
| Unknown. |
Scott Brown |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
D Mitchell (G) 1 S Bannigan (D) 8 L McBeth (D) 19 D O'Reilly (D) 20 Yellow card L Ashcroft (D) 23 K Megwa (D) 30 K Turner (M) 6 Yellow card S Lawless (M) 11 (61) R Crawford (M) 14 Yellow card (84) A Fitzpatrick (M) 21 Yellow card B Graham (F) 9 Yellow card |
Josh Clarke Scott McMann Patrick Reading Lenny Agbaire Mark McKenzie Ben Dempsey Jamie Murphy Connor McLennan Nick McAllister Marcus Rus George Oakley |
| Bench | |
|
L Budinauckas (G) 12 L Cameron (G) 38 (84) B Stanway (M) 26 Z Mackenzie (M) 29 M Falconer (M) 39 N Lockhart (M) 40 (61) T Ablade (F) 18 |
Robbie Mutch Dylan Watret Jay Henderson Ethan Walker Curtis Main Jake Hastie |
| Substitutions | |
| None. |
Dylan Watret for Nick McAllister (10) Ethan Walker for Marcus Rus (71) Jay Henderson for Jamie Murphy (76) Curtis Main for George Oakley (77) |
| Cautions | |
| None. | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
David Dickinson (Referee) |
Match Report
Ayr United will take a narrow advantage into the second leg of the Scottish Premiership play-off quarter-final at home on Friday after a hard-earned win at Partick Thistle.
As expected, the first leg at Firhill was a cagey affair with neither side wanting to expose themselves at the opening hurdle of a potentially gruelling play-off process.
But Jamie Murphy got himself forward to connect with fellow winger Connor McLennan’s cushioned cross in the second half to send the side who finished third - eight points ahead of Thistle - in front.
The Jags opened up a little in pursuit of an equaliser, but failed to truly trouble Josh Clarke in the visiting goal.
However, they might feel aggrieved about not getting a penalty after two appeals - one in each half - were brushed away.
First Robbie Crawford felt he was pushed, and then Ben Stanway protested about contact which put him to the turf, but referee David Dickinson was unmoved.
Led by interim co-managers Brian Graham and Mark Wilson, Thistle looked a little leggy after their Friday night win when they dug deep against Livingston to ensure they made the play-offs.
And they will need to show the same level of fight this Friday at Somerset Park - live on BBC Scotland - if they are to turn this tie around and set up a semi-final next week against Livingston.
Match report written by BBC
Squad Statistics (as at May 6th, 2025)
| 2024-25 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Josh Clarke (GK) | 20 |
|
10 | - | 22 | - |
| Lenny Agbaire | 20 |
|
16 | 1 | 16 | 1 |
| Patrick Reading | 25 |
|
40 | - | 183 | 3 |
| Scott McMann | 28 |
|
41 | 1 | 41 | 1 |
| Marcus Rus | 22 |
|
39 | 5 | 39 | 5 |
| Nick McAllister | 24 |
|
33 | - | 110 | 3 |
| Connor McLennan | - |
|
32 | 3 | 32 | 3 |
| Jamie Murphy | 35 |
|
33 | 6 | 72 | 13 |
| Ben Dempsey | 25 |
|
44 | 4 | 126 | 16 |
| Mark McKenzie | 24 |
|
39 | 4 | 193 | 17 |
| George Oakley | 29 |
|
48 | 16 | 48 | 16 |
| Dylan Watret (sub) | 18 |
|
32 | 3 | 35 | 3 |
| Jay Henderson (sub) | 23 |
|
47 | 14 | 47 | 14 |
| Ethan Walker (sub) | 26 |
|
24 | 5 | 24 | 5 |
| Curtis Main (sub) | 32 |
|
15 | 4 | 15 | 4 |
League Table (as at May 6th, 2025)
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Falkirk | 36 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 73 |
| 2. | Livingston | 36 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 70 |
| 3. | Ayr United | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 63 |
| 4. | Partick Thistle | 36 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 55 |
| 5. | Raith Rovers | 36 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 53 |
| 6. | Morton | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 48 |
| 7. | Hamilton Academical | 36 | 10 | 6 | 20 | 36 |
| 8. | Dunfermline Athletic | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 35 |
| 9. | Queen's Park | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 35 |
| 10. | Airdrieonians | 36 | 7 | 8 | 21 | 29 |