Kilmarnock 15s v Academy 15s
Ayr made the short trip to Grange Academy to take on Kilmarnock in the Ayrshire derby and it was Ayr who were first to test the Killie keeper after 5 minutes when Craig McGuffie got a 25 yard free kick on target. After 10 minutes Jai Holland put Ayr in front with a superbly drilled free kick that flew into the bottom left hand corner of the Killie net.
However Killie were awarded a soft penalty in the 25 minute when a cross was drilled in and hit the defenders arm which was down at the side of his body. Some you get and some you don’t and on this occasion the referee went with the shouts from the home support and the spot kick was given. The penalty was well taken to square the game and 5 minutes later Killie took the lead when their big centre half headed home at the back post from a well delivered corner. The first period drew to a close with Ayr behind after having started so brightly but still well in the match.
Killie rung the changes at half time with 5 substitutions. Killie’s no 9 & 10 certainly freshened their team up and started to link well, the no 10 missed a great chance when one on one with the Ayr keeper after being played through by the no 9. The Killie no 9 then capitalised on a short back pass to stretch the lead for the home side and this was quickly followed when the no 10 then curled a beauty into the top corner. The final goal of the game again came for the home side when a break down the right hand side was followed by a great cross and smart finish. However Ayr continued to go forward and a good move resulted in Ethan Tasker shooting just over the top after he had overlapped from left back.
The referee blew to end a typical derby game with Killie taking the spoils. There wasn’t as much football on the deck from Ayr today as there has been in recent weeks and they got caught up in the “hurly burly” of the game against the more physically developed Killie side. Only in the last 10 to 15 minutes did Ayr start to play their normal passing game as the pace of the game tailed off. However there is no time to fret on the result today as Rangers are next week’s callers to Prestwick and hopefully the injuries picked up by Callum Smith and Ross Thomson over the last couple of games will have cleared in time for them to take part.
Lee Williamson (pictured) had a good game at the back for Ayr today in an otherwise lacklustre performance.
