It’s Miller time for Honest Men
Mikey Miller hit a double to give Ayr a winning start and make it a miserable dugout debut for Queens stand-ins Stephen Dobbie and Willie Gibson.
Dobbie, 37, and Gibson, 36, answered an SOS after manager Allan Johnston and his coaching staff were laid up at home after a backroom member tested positive for Covid-19.
However, it was painful viewing as two goals in a five-minute spell put Ayr in early control. A miserable day was sealed when on-loan Rangers kid James Maxwell was dismissed for diving.
Dobbie claimed: “It’s been a hard time with the manager and Sandy (Clark) not here but we have a lot of professionals in the dressing room who have been in the game a long time.
“All credit to them, they were fantastic for us and we couldn’t ask for any more. I thought the foul on James (Maxwell) was a penalty at first and he had been clipped. But the referee sees what he sees and has given it.
“We’re in charge again next week due to the two-week isolation so we’ll prepare again and take on board what the management want through messages and zoom calls.
“The manager was watching and he was in touch at half-time to relay his thoughts. It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the win for him.”
Miller struck after 13 minutes rising to head home a perfectly flighted corner from Joe Chalmers.
The visitors shot themselves in the foot again five minutes later when they again failed to deal with an identical Chalmers corner. Michael Moffat nodded the ball back and Miller scooped it over the helpless Rohan Ferguson.
Teenage Finnish keeper Viljami Sinisalo twice came to Ayr’s rescue when he dived to push aside an angled drive from Dobbie and then tipped over a powerful header from Euan East. Sinisalo, who is on loan from Aston Villa, was a hero again 10 minutes into the second half when he brilliantly tipped over a Joe Mckee free-kick.
However, he was finally beaten seconds later when Dobbie thundered home a penalty, awarded for Jack Baird’s foul on Gregor Buchanan.
The visitors blew their chances with 25 minutes to go when Maxwell was shown a second yellow card after going down too easily in the penalty box.
Ayr also saw red in the dying seconds when Mccowan, who had earlier been booked, lashed out at Buchanan and earned a second booking.
Ayr boss Mark Kerr said: “I thought Mikey Miller was brilliant. I was very frustrated with Luke’s second-off – his reaction was crazy.”
AYR UNITED:
(4-1-4-1) Sinisalo 7; Muirhead 7, Baird 7, Roscoe 7, Reading 7; Miller 8; Mccowan 6, Chalmers 7, Murdoch 6, Moffat 6; Anderson 6 (Mckenzie 80, 3). Subs not used - HareReid, Houston, Hewitt, Kerr, Smith, Love.
QOS:
(4-3-3) Ferguson 6; Nortey 6, Obileye 6, Buchanan 6, Maxwell 5; Robinson 5 (Gibson 66, 4), Mckee 6, Mccabe 6; Dobbie 7, East 6 (Goss 81, 3), Fitzpatrick 6. Subs, not used - Leighfield, Sylla. Mcgrory, Mcmahon, Shields.