Moore trying to take the Michael
Striker jokes he’s claiming the winner off pal Rose
Stuart Wilson at Firhill Craig Moore admits it doesn’t matter who’s scoring for Ayr – as long as the Honest Men stay in the title hunt.
The striker, handed a rare start at Firhill, made sure a Michael Rose header crossed the line to secure three points for United.
But the pair were left arguing the toss over who grabbed the headlines.
Moore smiled: “The referee has given it to me but I’ve got no idea if I’m being honest.
“Michael has gone up with a great header and I’ve made sure it crossed the line.
“We’ll both claim it but the main thing is the three points.
“It doesn’t matter who scores as long as we keep winning.”
Footage later cleared up the debate in favour of Rose, who climbed to crash home a Declan McDaid corner with 12 minutes remaining.
It followed a concerted period of Ayr pressure which saw Lawrence Shankland hit the bar and Moore have an effort cleared off the line.
Moore added: “We deserved the goal and it’s another big three points.
“I enjoyed getting the start and feel I can work well alongside Lawrence.
“We’re obviously building momentum but the players are not looking too far ahead.
“We’re just taking things one game at a time and we’ll see where it carries us.”
Ayr crashed the party of new Thistle boss, Gary Caldwell, who was making Partick: Bell, Elliott, Keown, McGinty, Penrice, Bannigan ( Storer), Storey, Spittal, Slater, Mbuyi- Mutombo ( Erskine), Quitongo ( Coulibaly). AYR: Doohan, Geggan ( Harvie), Adams, Rose, Smith, McDaid, Murdoch ( Forrest), Kerr, Crawford ( Bell), Moore, Shankland.
his Firhill bow in front of an expectant home support.
And although the Jags looked improved on the side already beaten twice by Ayr this season, they were still deservedly brushed aside here as United racked up a quick hat- trick.
The story of the game threatened to be a series of baffling calls from whistler Bobby Madden, who enraged Ayr from the off.
Madden, who sparked the ire of Ian McCall at Ibrox this season, was at it again here, waving away an early stonewall penalty shout for a shove on Shankland.
James Penrice then appeared to handle in the box as Ayr started on the front foot but they were getting no joy from the man in the middle.
Skipper Jamie Adams should have put Ayr in front but couldn’t divert an Andy Geggan free- kick past Cammy Bell and then Moore lashed past when it looked easier to hit the target.
Ayr, backed by a superb following of 955, received a let- off when Thistle’s Blair Spittal couldn’t convert from eight yards – and they were made to pay the price.
United cranked up the pressure and got their scalp when McDaid’s corner was thundered over the line by Rose with Moore in close attendance.
Boss McCall said: “We weren’t clinical but got the job done.
“We had three good penalty shouts but Bobby Madden doesn’t give Ayr penalties so were unlikely to get them.
“We brought 1000 fans here and it was like a home game for us.
“People now expect us to come to places like this and win, which shows you how far we’ve come.”
Jags boss Caldwell claimed: “I was delighted with our performance but I can’t accept us losing games of football. It must be a menality thing rather than how we’re playing.”