Ayr United shocked SPL's St Mirren as they took their place in the Scottish Communities League Cup at the expense of their host. As I suggested in the in-game updates, St Mirren were left to rue their inability to convert their level of procession, especially in the first half, into goals to see off their visitors from the Irn-Bru First Division. Understandably, the goal scorer Chris Smith was pumped up after the game and was beaming from ear to ear as he answered questions from the media. When asked if the gaol made up for the disappointment of being freed by Rangers, Smith said: "As a Rangers fan, it was a great four years I spent at Ibrox. I really enjoyed and thought I was progressing. However, the reality check of being released hit hard. I knew I had to knuckle down if I wanted to continue to play football. It can be hard as Ayr are a part-time team and I don't have another job at the moment. I train on my own to occupy the time and the winning feeling tonight makes all that work worth while."
The mood was a little darker to say the least when St Mirren manager Danny Lennon entered the media room. He and his assistant Tommy Craig could be seen throughout the game prowling the technical area and cajoling their charges to more effort. He said: "I must give Ayr United credit for sticking to their game plan, certainly not for their performance but their game plan. For everything that is going to come at us from a poor result, we still believe in what we are doing. For all the dominance and procession that we had you know we found it very, very difficult to break down a parked bus plus eleven traffic wardens. They did it fantastically well and credit to them for sticking to their game plan for the full 90 minutes. It was very difficult to break down and the big worry for me was the fact we were giving away needless free-kicks and that looked to be their best opportunity (to score). From the stats we have from the game, it looks like they scored from their one and only shot on target."
Asked how he felt his side played, Lennon went on: "I know that we lacked that cutting edge and that is not just tonight. it has been evident over the last few weeks and at the beginning of the season. Although I am bitterly disappointed tonight and we missed a wonderful opportunity (to reach the semi-finals), and I am gutted for everybody associated with the club none more so than the supporters, but I believe the way we are going is in the right manner and all the good work from pre-season does not fall away on Saturday there and even tonight. I have to give Brian (Reid) a great deal of credit as he is working and he has come up with a game plan which they have stuck to and he did the best with the tools that he has. But really, what did they bring to the game? And they looked for that killer instinct and we knew they were capable of winning the game after what they did with Inverness and Hearts. We are very disappointed and will have to pick ourselves up very quickly over the next 48 hours ahead of a very important game (away to St Johnstone)." When the victorious Ayr United manager met with the press it was a rather more positive interview. Reid joked: "I have been shouting that much that I have actually given myself a headache! Obviously we are absolutely delighted on a great night for Ayr United football club complimented by a superb travelling support. I was delighted to see the ball hit the back of the net for the fans and I was glad we gave them a great night. We now look forward to the semi-final."
Ayr United languish at the bottom of the First Division and Reid was asked how does that sit when compared to the performance against the Buddies. He said: "Every week I am pulling my hair out. Every game you play, you have that work rate and organisation and performance. From Saturday's performance, where we gave away three cheap goals from set pieces and the gifts we gave to Dundee, to that tonight where the only way they looked like scoring was from set pieces. We defended big and strong and the one at the end when it hit the cross bar was one of their best chances of the evening. Obviously, they way St Mirren play we knew they would have the bulk of procession but our game plan worked to a T, every single player stuck to it. The effort and commitment from a part-time team and fitness levels were exceptional."
Source: FOOTYMAD
