Daddy cool tots up tally Ayr ace Moff hits double to celebrate baby joy

put them in front. Watson hooked home an equaliser with Henderson then heading the Links Park men ahead.

Montrose dominated the second half and in 73 minutes Harrington fired a shot home.

The home side wrapped things up in 78 minutes when Graham Webster crossed for Johnston to tap in the fifth.

Brechin manager Barry Smith said: “We didn’ t deserve anything from the game.

“I changed things at half time as I hoped we could get at them but it never happened.” Michael Moffat was the daddy as he celebrated the birth of daughter Mila with a sensational display.

Just hours after wife Megan gave birth to their second child, Moffat scored twice and won a penalty for Lawrence Shankland as Ayr kept in touch at the top.

The striker had been up all night but showed no signs of being drained as he clinched a vital win.

Boss Ian McCall said: “I phoned Michael this morning and he said he was fine.

“I was going to take him off with 20 minutes to go but he said he was OK.

“I thought he was excellent, He scored a great goal and then got another one so it was a good day.”

Moffat’s magical day began in 29 minutes when he curled a brilliant left-foot shot into the top corner after taking a pass from Declan McDaid.

Al loa levelled barely a minute later when Alan Trouten produced a cool finish from Iain Flannigan’s cutback.

Then six minutes into the second hal f Mof fat was barged over by Neil Parry and Shankland expertly converted the penalty.

Moffat should have had a second spot- kick in 85 minutes when Andy Graham tripped him but it wasn’t given.

Then two minutes later Shankland capitalised on calamitous Alloa defending

Alloa ..................... 1 Ayr United ........... 3

Lindsay Herron

to set up Nicky Cadden whose shot was blocked and Moffat slammed home the rebound.

McCal l added: “We had to wait for the third goal to be safe and we waited longer than we should have because we really should have had a second penalty.

“It was as obvious as the first one but Michael was maybe too honest.

“It was a tight game and Alloa are a good side. At 2-1 Ross Doohan made two very good saves but we had chances too and I felt we deserved it and 3-1 was a fair reflection.”

Wasps boss Jim Goodwin didn’t agree. He said: “The result flatters Ayr but it’s that old cliché, goals change games.

“The penalty was a sore one because we should have dealt with the situation better.

“But we kept trying to get back into the game and their keeper tipped one onto the bar so there are fine margins.

“And the third goal is amateurish. We tried to play our way out of trouble when we should have kicked the ball out the park.”

Goodwin knows Falkirk and Partick Thistle are gaining on his side at the bottom and that crunch games are looming.

He said: “They’ve signed about 20 players between them but we play them in the next couple of weeks.”