Saturday 6th October
SouthWest League
Kilwinning v Ayr United
Ayr took to the park knowing this would be a hard game against a strong Kilwinning side who like to play their football on the floor like ourselves. Missing a defender through illness meant Ayr had to make a few positional changes to the starting team.
Kilwinning came out the blocks at a high tempo and had a few shots on goals early on that Megan Cannell dealt with easily enough in goals. First attack by Ayr led to a goal when a cross was sent in from Danielle Nicholson on the left which found its way to the onrushing Hannah McSorley who smashed the ball into the top corner leaving the keeper no chance. Kilwinning replied immediately when their winger, who caused problems for the Ayr defence all day, delivered a great ball into the box to which their striker nipped in front of Megan to poke the ball home. Kilwinning continued to go forward and a few minutes later took the lead from a corner when the ball came into the box and an unmarked player placed her shot perfectly into the corner to make it 2-1. The rest of the half was constant Ayr pressure with Cobi Welsh going close on several occasions. The equaliser came just on the stroke of half time when a 1-2 between Amy Miller and Hannah Connolly split the defence and Amy tucked the ball into the corner.
The second half was more a cagey affair with most of the play being battled out between the midfield with no team taking clear control. An early corner led to Ayr’s best chance when Amy swung the ball in and Cobi got her head to it just to see the ball go agonisingly over the bar. Another corner to Ayr this time and from a short corner that was practised in training Kilwinning nipped in and countered which led to a 1v1 situation to which their striker scored to make it 3-2. Ayr pressed and pressed to look for a goal to get back in and got their reward when Megan made a great diving save, kicked the ball long which found Danielle who took the ball on the turn before shooting into the roof of the net. The game looked to be heading for a draw but right at the death Kilwinning had other ideas and they pressed forward in numbers and got the winner.
Kilwinning 4 Ayr United 3
Goal Scorers: Amy Miller (1) Hannah McSorley (1) Danielle Nicholson (1)
Team: Megan Cannell, Emma Robertson, Cobi Welsh, Hannah McSorley, Amy Miller, Danielle Nicholson, Hannah Connolly, Michaela McCurdie, Chelsie Bradley, Rhiannon Connelly.
Player of the Match: Megan Cannell (pictured)
Andy McMath spoke of his disappointment afterwards “I felt today we just didn’t turn up at all. Our passing and movement that has caused teams problems to defend all season just wasn’t there today. One of the positives that can be taken is that we only lost by one goal to a good side when we had a bad day at the office, and if it hadn’t been for Megan in goals it would have been a lot more. However I am sure the girls will bounce back stronger next weekend against Clark Drive as they all continue to work hard in training not just for themselves but for each other.”
