Ferguson off to a flier as Ayr’s pain goes on
BARRY FERGUSON was given the perfect start to his reign as Bully Wee boss as sorry Ayr crashed out of the tournament to lower-league opposition for the fifth time in seven years.
Clyde had already gone close twice before taking the lead with a well- worked goal after eight minutes.
Kevin Watt was the architect with a purposeful run down the right flank and his low cross found Scott McManus, who clipped his sh o t ov e r the helpless David Hutton.
Former Bully Wee keeper Hutton could have been beaten inside the first two minutes when John Sweeney’s free- kick drifted narrowly wide. Sweeney was in the thick of it again 60 seconds later when he found space in the visitors’ box, but this time his effort was deflected for a corner.
At the other end, Un i t e d went close through Brian Gilmour’s glancing header before Clyde struck through McManus. The Honest Men were almost given a gift when David Marsh attempted a cute header back to Jamie Barclay, who was on a different wavelength to his teammate, and the pair could only look on in relief as the ball slipped narrowly wide.
Instead, Clyde’s industry and enterprise were rewarded with a second goal when Scott Ferguson was tripped just inside the box by Nicky Devlin and Sweeney made an expert job from the penalty spot.
Ayr almost grabbed a lifeline before the break when Alan Forrest’s effort was well saved by Barclay.
Wa t t and Fo r re s t traded shots as play went from end- to- end after the restart, but Ayr could not find a way to goal.