Shankland strikes twice to get Ayr off to winning start against stuttering Thistle
Ayr United and Partick Thistle were separated by a full range of emotions after the League 1 champions beat the newly-relegated visitors 2-0 at Somerset Park.
Ayr were celebrating after only seven minutes. Robbie Crawford was sent crashing to the ground by Sean Mcginty and the in-demand Lawrence Shankland made no mistake from the spot.
Shankland doubled Ayr’s lead 11 minutes later when he collected a pass from Declan Mcdaid before ramming a shot past Cammy Bell.
Ayr had chances to add to their lead and home boss Ian Mccall said: “It was a great team performance and a great day for everyone connected with Ayr.”
Ross County finally saw off dogged resistance by visitors Alloa to get off to a winning start with a
1-0 success. The Wasps had battled well until Dingwall skipper Marcus Fraser, pictured, forced the ball home with only two minutes left.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle shook off a disappointing display in the Betfred Cup against Hearts to start with a 1-0 success at
Falkirk where George Oakley netted on ten minutes with the Bairns angered that an equaliser by Scott Harrison was ruled out.
Queen of the South came back from two goals down at Morton to rescue a point in a 2-2 draw. A goal just after half-time by Michael Tidser was added to by Ross Maclean to have the Greenock men in charge but Callum Semple’s volley and Josh Todd’s finish at the second time of asking restored parity.