Academy 19s v Clyde 19s
Ayr United 19s took on Clyde 19s in an entertaining end to end game with both sides evenly matched early on. However Ayr struck first in the 35 minute, when Kelly’s pass found Robertson, who finished low into the bottom corner. Five minutes later Ayr added a second, when the same combination linked up with the same end product. Ayr finished the half 2 nil up and very much on top.
The second half started in a similar fashion, and it was no surprise when Ayr added a third when Kelly completed his third assist for Sean Robertson (pictured) to smash home his hat-trick. Indeed Robertson almost added a fourth, only for his header to be denied by an excellent one-handed save by the Bully Wee goalkeeper.
The game then totally turned on its head, and Clyde took control and dominated, getting two goals back, before getting the equaliser from the penalty spot, when Murdoch was adjudged to have impeded the Clyde forward. There were chances for both sides for a winner with Ayr’s best chance again falling to Robertson but as he broke through on goal the Clyde defender somehow managed to get back and strongly barge him off the ball and the game ended 3-3.
After the game coach Tom Robertson commented “As a neutral it would have been an entertaining game to watch, however as a coach it had everything that was good and bad about a team. We played some really nice expansive football at times, getting lots of ball, good passing, creating chances and getting three goals. However the lads have a huge amount to learn from the game, as they were shown that if you don’t do the messy basic things in football, you end up getting nothing. Their attitude and workrate dropped when they went three up, and they were punished, and they will always be punished at this level, and in the end they were hanging in for a draw, but fair play to Clyde for their effort and determination to get back into the game.
Nevertheless we will concentrate on the lots of positives to take from the game, especially with the type of football we played in spells, and we also had a few good performances in there as well. It was good to see Sean Robertson get three goals, and hopefully this will give him the confidence to kick on.
Man of the match: Sean Robertson
Team: McLatchie, Muir, Longridge, Marshall, Murdoch, Gordon, Hutchinson, Slooves, Dunn, Dyer, Kelly. Subs: Robertson, McCubbin, Harkness, Crossan (not used), Clark (not used)
