United draw a rare blank
Honest Men miss chance to go top
MORTON................................................ 0 AYR UNITED........................................... 0
Stuart Wilson at Cappielow
Robby McCrorie almost ended up an Honest Man this season.
But he broke Ayr hearts here with some smart stops to ensure a rare goalless outing for the men in pink.
Rangers kid McCrorie was among those on Ian McCall’s wanted list back in the summer.
And on the evidence of this display it’s not hard to see why as the 20- yearold lived up to his billing as a future Scotland number one.
The on- loan Morton stopper was far busier than Scotland under- 21 counterpart, Ross Doohan, as United passed up the chance to reclaim top spot in the Championship.
And a first half double save from Michael Moffat and Andy Murdoch headlined a fine day between the sticks for the Dailly lad.
He said: “You can see with the movement of Moffat and Lawrence Shankland that they play off each other very well.
“They will cause a problem for any team in the league.
“But fair play to our defenders because they kept tight and made it difficult for them to play.
“We had to because they are capable of hurting anyone.”
Ayr made one change from the side which won at Alloa with Robbie Crawford returning in place of Celtic loan kid Calvin Miller.
That meant a place on the right of midfield for Murdoch and he almost broke the deadlock in Ayr’s best chance midway through the first half.
A deft flick from Shankland sent Moffat through on goal but McCrorie was off his line to block the effort.
And he pulled off a quick follow- up stop to deny Murdoch from 18 yards.
Ross Docherty had a goal ruled out for a push in the box before Crawford and Declan McDaid tried their luck from distance.
And Moffat almost prodded Ayr ahead on the stroke of half time when connecting with a Shankland cross.
United laboured to create much after the interval and sent on Miller and Nicky Cadden as the game opened up in the closing stages.
And they got their chance when Shankland rattled the base of the post with three minutes left.
Boss McCall said: “Ross hasn’t had a save to make.
“We were dominant throughout the game and Lawrence kind of summed it up at the end with that shot.
“The players have reached the stage now, because of what they’ve done, that this is a bad result for us because we want to go and win games.”
Morton boss Jonatan Johansson said: “Ayr are a top team so I’m happy with the point.”