Shanks has been Robb- ing praise
Gaffer feels midfielder Crawford is ‘ just as good’
Ayr United ............. 2 Partick .................. 0 With everyone’s plaudits going to goal king Lawrence Shankland, gaffer Ian McCall insists his side have the best kept secret in Scottish football elsewhere.
The Ayr United boss feels that Robbie Crawford was “head and shoulders above anyone else” against Partick Thistle.
Crawford, who McCall claims is “as good as Shankland in a different way,” won a penalty just nine minutes in after being tripped by Sean McGinty.
The spot- kick was smashed home by Shankland as he sent Cammy Bell the wrong way.
Shankland doubled his money when he knocked home a Declan McDaid cutback after 20 minutes.
And Crawford, who ran the midfield all game, was delighted with the win.
He said: “It was a great win as Thistle are going to be up there at the end of the season.
“It gives the boys confidence and shows that we can compete in this division.
“It’s good to get off to a good start and hopefully we can continue that.
“But beating Partick doesn’t mean anything if we don’t follow it up with a win against Inverness.
“It was good to get an early goal and settle the nerves.
“Then obviously we got another about 10 minutes later so then we just had to worry about seeing the game out and not throwing it away. I was happy with my own performance, but it’s a team game.
“I think everyone for us got pass marks, it was a great performance.”
Ross Docherty made his first appearance since January, coming on late as a sub, with Mark Kerr sitting out a one game suspension.
Crawford, who is happy to battle for a starting spot, said: “It’s great to have the standard of players that we have.
“It’s going to be tough to get in the starting 11, but as long as I perform as well as I can then that’s all I can do.”
Crawford also feels that keeping Shankland is going to be key for the Honest Men.
He said: “Shanks is obviously massive for us, he is a great player. “So hopefully we can keep him.” McCall added: “We played really well and there was a few outstanding performances.
“I feel that in the second half we could have got that third goal.
“We had lots of chances but just couldn’t put them away, which is so unlike us with the players we have.
“But it was a great day, and Thistle couldn’t handle Shankland or Moffat.
“Shankland was gutted he never got his third home hat- trick in a row, which shows how keen he is. Michael Rose was top- notch and Robbie Crawford is the best kept secret in Scottish football.
“He is as good as Shankland, mark my words, but in a different way.
“It was a great turnout and it was good to see the Somerset Road end going mental.
“Who knows where we will end up, but we have a good set of players.”
Jags boss Alan Archibald said: “We can’t keep giving away cheap goals, especially against the hottest striker in the league at the moment.”