Naysmith reaps reward after sub secures an unlikely point
IN sending on the substitute that would earn his side a draw with his first touch of the game, Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith pulled off the unlikely trick of silencing both the Ayr United supporters and his own.
Queens were trailing to Michael Rose’s 75th-minute header when Naysmith turned to his bench for the second time in the match and called upon Connor Murray to get stripped and ready to go on.
That decision did not sit well with the small bunch of travelling fans but vindication for Naysmith would be swift. Within 30 seconds of his arrival on to the pitch, 21 year-old Murray was fastening on to a ball at the back of the Ayr penalty box and rifling a low shot past Ross Doohan.
That was enough to earn Queens a battling draw, bringing an end to Ayr’s previous perfect record at home. And for Naysmith it was the perfect way to answer his critics.
‘I was getting stick from our own fans saying: “Do you know what you’re doing?”, and that’s what frustrates me,’ he said. ‘We were losing, so I took off a defensive midfielder, put on an attacking player and he scores. So I wasn’t really happy with that (criticism).
‘Sometimes the subs work for you, and sometimes they don’t. And on this occasion it did.
‘It had been in my head to put Connor on as his finishing has been different class in training. I’m delighted for him as he has probably not played as much as he would have hoped.’
Despite losing their 100-per-cent record at home, Ayr were not too disconsolate either. Ross County’s defeat to Dundee United saw Ian McCall’s side stretch their lead in the Championship to four points.
‘It was disappointing to lose that goal but it’s the first one we’ve conceded in four games, so I can’t be too hard on them,’ said McCall. ‘I don’t think we cut them open enough despite all the possession that we had. But we still had three or four chances to go 2-0 up and that would have been the game done.
‘But it’s still a point and we increase our lead at the top. If we can win next week, it turns into a good point.’
Ayr started brightly and Lawrence Shankland enjoyed a few halfchances including a header that drifted wide and a second-half shot on the turn that sailed high over the crossbar. For once it wasn’t his day.
Queens had their own talismanic forward in Stephen Dobbie, who had scored four goals — and missed a penalty — when the clubs met in Dumfries earlier in the season.
Like Shankland, however, the 35-year-old would be left frustrated.
Naysmith, though, was satisfied with seeing his side leave with a point at a notoriously inhospitable venue, adding: ‘This is a hard place to come. In the second half, I didn’t think there was much in it and we lose a poor goal from a corner.
‘But credit to the players. They never felt sorry for themselves. They went up the pitch and Connor got the equaliser for us.’