alloa athletic 1 Trouten (30)
ayr united 3 Moffat (28, 87), Shankland (51, pen)
Ayr manager Ian Mccall was delighted to see his side return to winning ways against Alloa after their disappointing midweek loss to Inverness
The victory cemented their position in second spot in the league, three points behind Ross County who came from behind to beat Dunfermline.
The Somerset Park gaffer praised the Wasps who made it difficult for the Honest Men.
Mccall said: “Alloa are a hard side to play against and although it was a tight match we deserved to win and the scoreline showed that we were in control.”
Ayr started the game with all guns blazing and in the opening minutes Calvin Miller and Declan Mcdaid came close to opening with a shot that was saved by Parry in the home goal and an attempt to chip the ball over the head of the home keeper.
The visitors grabbed the opener when Michael Moffat ran on to an inch-perfect pass from Mcdaid and from 20 yards out fired the ball past Neil Parry in the home goal.
Alloa responded through Alan Trouten who connected with an Iain Flannigan cross and fired an unstoppable shot past Ross Doohan in the visitors’ goal.
Early in the second half Ayr were awarded a penalty kick by referee Mike Roncone when Neil Parry was adjudged to have pulled down Moffat inside the box.
And it was top scorer Lawrence Shankland who stepped up to rifle the ball past a helpless Parry in the home goal and give the visitors the lead that their play deserved.
The Ayrshire men continued to press for more goals and they scored again in the closing minutes of the match when a Shankland cross was well struck by substitute Nicky Cadden. The ball was knocked back into play by Parry, only as far as Moffat, who made no mistake from close range to make it three for the visitors. Alloa manager Jim Goodwin said after the match that he was disappointed with the outcome, adding: “The result flattered Ayr. At half-time we were level at 1-1, but the penalty was a game changer and although there was not much between the sides we just could not get back into the game. “However, we are confident that we can get back into a winning way.”