United open door for Pars
The Honest Men stunned by Dunfermline late show
Stunned Lee Bullen admits he can’t believe Ayr tossed away victory with the Championship safety line edging into sight.
United dominated relegation rivals Dunfermline at East End Park and should have been home and hosed before a late collapse.
Now their season comes down to a two game shootout as Ayr and the Pars battle for survival.
Ayr led in Fife through Aaron Muirhead’s first half penalty and blew a hatful of golden chances to seal the deal.
But they couldn’t get over the line and Reece Cole’s 79th minute free kick was followed by a long range strike from sub Nikolay Todorov as United crumbled at the death.
Bullen told the Post: “It’s very easy to be angry for the way that happened.
“For 79 minutes it was a dominant, excellent footballing performance.
“The only negative up to that point is we should have scored more goals.
“We then give away a silly free-kick and they score and you see the nervousness come in.
“Goals change games and the whole atmosphere turned, but two shots from 20 yards have done for us when we should have been five or six goals up.
“It’s very easy to get yourself down and we will be for a couple of days, but we now have to go again.
“If we harness the first 79 minutes of this game then we’ll be alright and take care of ourselves.
“It’s now down to a two game shootout and we have to put the pressure all on Dunfermline.”
And Bullen is backing top scorer Tomi Adeloye to bounce back after he missed a number of chances to bury the game for Ayr at East End.
The hitman – crowned United’s Player of the Year – looked in unplayable form as the Pars struggled to handle his strength, but was left cursing his luck in front of goal.
Bullen added: “Tomi had a really good performance but knows he should have had three or four goals.
“There are times as a striker when you need to be selfish but also times when you need to lift your head.
“But he should be happy with what he brought to the team – he is a handful for anyone in this league and we have to hope he is a handful for Queens and Partick in these final two games.”
DUNFERMLINE: Stolarczyk, Todd, Donaldson (McCann 46), Ambrose, Edwards, Pybus, Chalmers (Cole 69), Lawless, Polworth, Thomas (Kamwa 69), O’Hara (Todorov 83).
AYR: McAdams, Houston (Fjortoft 77), McGinty, Muirhead, Reading, O’Connor (McKenzie 77), McInroy, Murdoch, Maxwell, Adeloye, Ashford.
Referee: Colin Steven; Crowd: 4,855.