HIBS 1 Cummings (50) AYR UTD 2 Balatoni (74) Gilmour (80)
NEIL LENNON will consider appealing the red card shown to Marvin Bartley after insisting that referee Nick Walsh cost Hibernian a historic triumph.
Hibs were hunting their sixth Championship win on the spin, which would have secured a place in the record books as their best ever start to a league campaign.
Despite Ayr United turning in an admirably resolute showing, the capital club were well on their way to achieving that feat when Jason Cummings curled home his eighth goal of the season in spectacular style.
However, the game was turned on its head when Bartley was dismissed by whistler Walsh for a late challenge on Jamie Adams before goals from Conrad Balatoni and Brian Gilmour secured a stunning 2-1 win.
“The red card has completely changed the game and I’m not convinced it was a sending off,” said Hibs head coach Lennon.
“Marvin might have caught the boy late, but there was no malice in the tackle. An appeal is definitely worth looking at because I can’t believe he has sent Marv off. ”
Prior to the visit of The Honest Men, Hibs had already matched their previous best start to a league campaign, equalling the five wins on the spin registered by Willie McCartney’s side in the 1946/47 season.
Seventy years on, Lennon’s charges were evidently desperate to go one better as they flew from the blocks.
Grant Holt came closest in the first-half when he benefitted from some ponderous defending to strike the post from close-range.
Despite the hosts dominating, Ian McCall’s men were proving a tough nut to crack and managed to ride out the storm until the interval.
However, Cummings produced a moment of brilliance to open the scoring five minutes after the break, picking the ball up 25 yards from goal and curling a sumptuous drive into the top corner.
The encounter exploded into life with 20 minutes left to play when Bartley barrelled through Adams, prompting Walsh to give him his marching orders.
Ayr took just seven minutes to make their numerical advantage count with Balatoni rising home to power home a point-blank header from Gilmour’s corner-kick.
And an astonishing turnaround was completed on 80 minutes when Nicky Devlin left Lewis Stevenson for dead on the flank and produced a perfect cut-back for Gilmour, who slotted beyond Marciano.