Gretna 2
Ayr United 2
League (Second Division)

Match Report

A LATE goal from Gretna substitute Gavin Skelton denied Ayr a famous victory at Raydale Park after a stunning first half display had put United on the verge of glory.

Two goals in 60 seconds from Gareth Wardlaw and Chris Robertson had the Honest Men in charge and it looked like another tremendous defensive effort would pull Ayr through.

But Derek Townsley gave the Borderers a fighting chance with a goal midway through the second half and as Ayr stood just 11 minutes from victory, Skelton pounced on a mistake by Chris Strain to level the game.

It was harsh on United who had taken the game to Gretna from the first whistle and put the big spending side on the backfoot during a pulsating opening 45 minutes.

And Ayr could have been ahead as early as the 4th minute when Paul Hyslop’s dangerous ball from the right was met by the flying Wardlaw but his header was deflected inches wide of the post for a corner.

With Jerome Vareille missing from the attack, United took a further blow in the 19th minute when Martyn Campbell hobbled off to be replaced at the back by midfielder Mark Casey.

However, Ayr’s defence refused to be ruffled and it was Gretna who had trouble at the back as they fell behind to a brilliantly worked set piece in the 25th minute.

As Raymond Logan shaped to smash his free-kick from 25 yards, he instead rolled it forward to the edge of the box where Hyslop flicked the ball round his marker to the waiting Wardlaw who thundered his shot so hard that Alan Main could only take the sting out of the ball on its way into the net.

Wardlaw had barely plucked himself from the jubilant visiting support before Ayr were 2-0 up.

Another free-kick, this time from the right, saw Dougie Ramsay curl the perfect ball on to the head of Robertson who clinically buried his chance from six yards to send the travelling hoards into dreamland.

The Gretna defence simply couldn’t handle Robertson and he came close to adding an astonishing third goal on the half hour with an audacious lob from 25 yards which dipped just over.

Ayr made half-time with a comfortable lead and although Mark McGeown hadn’t had a save to make, the expected second half onslaught duly arrived.

Gretna quickly changed things by pulling both full backs and sending on Skelton and Andy Aitken.

Initially it did little to trouble Ayr and as Gretna’s chances of getting anything from the game appeared to be slipping away, so did their discipline.

Townsley was lucky to stay on the pitch after a late foul on Logan followed by raising his arms to Ramsay in the aftermath square-off but somehow escaped with just a yellow card.

James Grady, well known to Ayr fans for his fiery character, was next to have a pop at Ramsay after another challenge and arms were raised again as the game threatened to turn nasty.

But Gretna scraped their way back into the game midway through the half when Townsley bundled over the line from close range after a goalmouth scramble. It led to an almighty ruck in the back of the Ayr goal with bodies piling in to battle over the ball. Amazingly, it ended without incident.

The pressure was now on and Ayr lost yet another player to injury with Wardlaw limping off to be replaced by Andy Reid. At this point, tactics went out the window as Andy Essler appeared to move into attack to partner Robertson while tiring Ayr looked for ways to plug the gaps with any available bodies at the back.

Casey, in particular, had been outstanding after being pitched on to replace Campbell in a defensive role and as the clock ticked down it appeared these heroics throughout the team were going to secure the points.

But it unravelled in the cruellest possible way as sub Strain was caught in possession on his own six yard line and Skelton punished the error by stealing in to prod the ball past a helpless McGeown.

With 11 minutes still to go and Ayr literally out on their feet, the worst was on the cards. However, United dug deep to see out the remainder of the game with their only scare coming in the fifth minute of stoppage time when a Ryan McGuffie header bounced off the post.

It would have been an undeserved winner and as the final whistle sounded on Gretna’s run of 22 successive league wins at Raydale Park, Ayr were left to reflect on what could have been after yet another stirring performance in what has been a stunning start to the season.

Match report written by Ayr United FC Official Website