Ross County 2
Ayr United 1
League (Championship)
Ross County |
2 - 1 |
Ayr United |
 |
League (Championship) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
Ryan Duncan (4) Alex Iacovitti (70) |
Anton Dowds (42) |
| Team Managers | |
| Unknown. |
John Rankin |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
(45) T Carson (G) 30 A Wright (D) 4 A Iacovitti (D) 16 (67) D Gallagher (D) 31 L O'Sullivan (M) 3 C Randall (M) 6 Yellow card (77) N Chilvers (M) 10 R Docherty (M) 23 R Duncan (M) 27 Yellow card K Phillips (F) 11 (67) J Carbon (F) 12 |
David Mitchell Scott McMann Kevin Holt Liam Dick Leon King Jamie Murphy Marcus Rus Stuart Bannigan Ben Summers Ben Dempsey Anton Dowds |
| Bench | |
|
(45) B Foster (G) 21 L Pitan (D) 5 J Josh Reid (D) 43 J Henderson (M) 7 D Cornelius (M) 8 (67) D Smith (M) 15 (77) J Lindsay (M) 38 Yellow card (67) J White (F) 26 C Brown (F) 45 |
Liam Russel Dylan Watret George Finney Shaun Want Francis Turley Jamie Hislop Lucas McRoberts |
| Substitutions | |
| None. |
Dylan Watret for Marcus Rus (55) Lucas McRoberts for Ben Summers (81) Jamie Hislop for Jamie Murphy (90) |
| Cautions | |
| None. |
Scott McMann (39) Ben Dempsey (54) |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
Dan MacFarlane (Referee) |
Match Report
Ayr United were edged out 2-1 by Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium on 18 April 2026, with the home side capitalising on an early goal and a late winner to claim all three points. Ryan Duncan gave Ross County a flying start with a goal in the 4th minute, but Ayr responded before half-time to keep themselves in the contest.
Anton Dowds levelled for the Honest Men on 41 minutes, restoring parity and setting up an absorbing second half. The visiting defence held firm for much of the second half, but Ross County found the decisive breakthrough in the 70th minute when Alex Iacovitti scored to put the Staggies back in front.
Ayr pressed hard for an equaliser, but County withstood the pressure and held on to secure a hard-fought home victory. The win was a significant one for Ross County in their Championship campaign, while Ayr were left to rue a late collapse after a resilient first-half performance.
Match report written by AUFC Archive
Squad Statistics (as at April 18th, 2026)
| 2025-26 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| David Mitchell (GK) | 36 |
|
26 | - | 26 | - |
| Leon King | 22 |
|
33 | 1 | 33 | 1 |
| Liam Dick | 30 |
|
35 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| Kevin Holt | 33 |
|
39 | 4 | 39 | 4 |
| Scott McMann | 29 |
|
45 | 2 | 86 | 3 |
| Jamie Murphy | 36 |
|
28 | 8 | 100 | 21 |
| Ben Dempsey | 26 |
|
31 | 4 | 157 | 20 |
| Ben Summers | 21 |
|
14 | - | 14 | - |
| Stuart Bannigan | 33 |
|
35 | - | 36 | - |
| Marcus Rus | 23 |
|
37 | 1 | 76 | 6 |
| Anton Dowds | 29 |
|
28 | 7 | 70 | 30 |
| Dylan Watret (sub) | 19 |
|
21 | 1 | 56 | 4 |
| Jamie Hislop (sub) | 17 |
|
10 | - | 15 | - |
| Lucas McRoberts (sub) | 19 |
|
12 | 1 | 16 | 2 |
League Table (as at April 18th, 2026)
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | St Johnstone | 33 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 68 |
| 2. | Partick Thistle | 34 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 64 |
| 3. | Arbroath | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 50 |
| 4. | Dunfermline Athletic | 33 | 12 | 8 | 13 | 44 |
| 5. | Raith Rovers | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 42 |
| 6. | Queen's Park | 34 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 40 |
| 7. | Ayr United | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 39 |
| 8. | Morton | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 37 |
| 9. | Ross County | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 34 |
| 10. | Airdrieonians | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 32 |