TIGHT AT THE TOP

Kirk hails defensive unit after home draw with Morton

AYR United defender Alex Kirk has praised his defensive colleagues for coping with just about everything the Championship can throw at them as The Honest Men maintained their lead at the top.

Kirk found the net just three minutes in to Saturday’s clash with second-top Morton for his second goal in four matches.

And though Jai Quitongo headed the Inverclyde men back on terms 13 minutes later in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 2,800 at Somerset, Kirk and his team-mates stood firm for what was left of an entertaining tussle to ensure Lee Bullen’s men kept their three-point advantage at the head of a

Championship table that’s getting tighter every week.

“They were really physical,” Kirk said of Morton’s approach, “and you can see why they’re as high up in the league as they are.

“But I think everyone – not just me, Shaun, Frankie, Nick and Josh when he had to fill in – was excellent in dealing with that.

“Every team causes a different problem, and I think no matter who’s in there [at the centre of defence] – if it’s me and Frankie, me and Shaun or Shaun and Frankie – has dealt really well with the problems that teams have caused us.”

Results elsewhere on Saturday left Morton, Raith, Dundee and Inverness just three behind Ayr’s 25-point total, with Queen’s Park one further point adrift and Partick

Thistle on 20 – and Bullen said afterwards that he felt a draw was the right result.

“All it takes is one win and you can jump up to third or whatever,” the 51-year-old said.

“That’s the way the league’s going to be all season. It’s a great league to be involved in.

“It was a really good advert for Championship football. Was it a pretty game? Absolutely not. But given the fact it was first against second it was never going to be that.

“There was a lot of pressure on both teams – neither team wants to lose the game, but they both gave it a bash to win it.”

* Watch the post-match interviews with Alex Kirk and Lee Bullen in full, as well as comprehensive highlights from Saturday’s match, at ayrunitedfc.co.uk/ ayr-united-tv.