Ton up for Moff as Honest Men pile on agony for Dee
AYR UNITED 2 Smith (3), Moffat (16) DUNDEE 0
Furious James Mcpake blasted his players after Dundee fell eight points behind leaders Dunfermline with another horror show on the road.
The Dens Park men have now conceded 15 goals in their last four away games with strikes from Cammy Smith and Michael Moffat adding to their travelling woes.
The angry boss hit out: “I sound like a broken record but it was two really poor goals to lose.
“At this football club the results are not acceptable. We should be much better than what we are and I’m hurting.
“I’ve told the players they are representing a big club and it needs to get better quickly.
“I understand completely why fans are angry.
“I played at this club and know the demands.
“In my opinion we have a good group of players but it makes no difference if you cannot defend properly.
“I’m confident in my work and that I can get this group going. But confidence doesn’t win you games and the players need to be brave enough.
“At this moment we are not producing.
“I believe in my work and my players and we’ll keep working until we get it right.”
Veteran keeper Adam Legzdins, who has spent the last three years at English Premiership side Burnley, made his debut for the visitors at the age of 33.
But it was a nightmare start for the new keeper as he was picking the ball out of the net after only three minutes.
Luke Mccowan set up Smith and the on-loan Dundee United wide man kept his cool to strike home a low shot.
Jordan Mcghee went close to a reply five minutes when he rose to meet a Charlie Adam corner but his header skimmed the roof of the net.
The Dens men were soon in more disarray when Moffat collected a pass from Joe Chalmers and turned to angle a shot into the bottom corner for his 100th goal in Ayr colours.
Sadly it came in an empty stadium with no fans present to savour his milestone moment which deserved a proper fanfare.
Dundee were stunned by Ayr’s hot start but came close to striking back when it took a fine block from Viljami Sinisalo to keep out a point-blank header from Christie Elliot following a cross from Jordan Marshall.
Adam had a 30 yarder superbly pushed aside by Sinisalo who followed that with a stunning save from Shaun Byrne.
Ayr thought they had grabbed a third when Mccowan turned home a Smith cross but he was flagged offside.
Moffat received a commemorative shirt from the club to mark his ton but boss Mark Kerr joked: “He’s been waiting for it for so long that we’ve presented him with last season’s shirt.
“It’s a tremendous achievement and hopefully he can stay at the club for as long as he can. His goal was a brilliant finish and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.”