Honest Men pay the price for sluggish start
Bullen takes positives from cup defeat ahead of Arbroath opener
A goal after less than two minutes cost slow-starting Ayr a chance of Premier Sports Cup redemption.
Graham Carey’s 20-yard half volley caught United cold in Perth.
But Lee Bullen will have been somewhat encouraged by what he saw from his much-changed side, as they refused to buckle ahead of Saturday’s league curtain-raiser against Arbroath.
Bullen introduced six fresh faces with little riding on the last game of the group stage for United.
Finn Ecrepont was handed a rare start at left-back in place of the suspended Paddy Reading, while Daire O’Connor and Jayden Mitchell-Lawson both started in an attacking 4-4-2.
But the game was barely two minutes old and United had fallen behind with slack defending proving their downfall.
A cross from the right was only half cleared by Alex Kirk and Carey lashed the loose ball past Aidan McAdams’ despairing dive from 20 yards.
The early goal threatened to set a worrying tone but Ayr rode a flurry of corner kicks as Saints looked to put the game to bed in the opening stages.
McAdams’ goal remained relatively untested despite Saints looking dangerous although Carey curled a freekick just wide on the half hour before Jamie Murphy had a shot deflected wide when Saints should have done better.
That sparked Ayr into life and Sam Ashford should have levelled just before half-time when he shot against Elliott Parish with only the keeper to beat from eight yards.
United started the second half brightly
and Dipo Akinyemi had a header saved from a Paul Smith corner as they threatened.
O’Connor then sent two efforts over the top as Ayr continued to press but they couldn’t make the most of their possession.
Saints sub Taylor Steven tested McAdams with a low drive on the counter-attack but it was a brief threat from Saints, who did little after the break to suggest they would extend their lead.
And Ayr missed their big chance to level matters late on when Ashford led a counter-attack but with sub Mikey Hewitt unmarked and screaming for a pass, the striker went for goal but shot over the top.
Boss Bullen said: “I thought we got into a lot of good areas today and it came down to that same old thing of not being able to put the ball in the back of the net.
“The lads’ mental state is really positive – you can look at results and be doom and gloom and I get that.
“But this cup sometimes comes a little bit quicker than you’d want as a pre-season preparation.
“You only have to look at the likes of Hibs and St Mirren who are struggling to see that.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces in the door and it will always take time to bond.
“These are not excuses, but our bigger picture was always working towards
Arbroath in the league and I feel sure we’re ready for that now.”
He added: “There was a lot of pleasing stuff after the start we made – we had to show a lot of concentration and work as a unit to come through it.
“At half-time we asked them to push 10 yards higher up the pitch and I thought we were really good in spells.
“We were able to give one or two boys a chance today because of what happened at Annan on Tuesday night and I thought the likes of young Finn Ecrepont was excellent.
“Now we focus fully on Arbroath on Saturday and be in no doubt, we’ll be ready for it.”