Ayr give gaffer Bullen high five
AYR UNITED 5
Akinyemi (6, 36, 53), Young (59), Dempsey (62) QUEEN’S PARK 0
Lethal Dipo Akinyemi bagged a hat-trick as rampant Ayr United ran over the top of Queen’s Park to get their promotion bid on track after back to back defeats.
On-loan Aston Villa teenager Brad Young also hit the target on his first league start while Ben Dempsey had the final word with a cheeky back-heeler.
Ayr boss Lee Bullen insisted a big victory had been long overdue but reckoned 5-0 was sore on the Spiders who, despite the scoreline, made a real game of it.
Bullen said: “A result like that was coming after last week and previous games this season when we created so many opportunities but weren’t as ruthless as today.
“If I’m Owen Coyle I’m thinking it’s never a 5-0 game because they put a lot into it but the difference was we were ruthless and our keeper and defence were wonderful. But that clean sheet is as important as any goals we scored.
“I’m delighted for Ben Dempsey to get a goal. He wore a new pair of boots today and I wound him up beforehand and asked if there were any goals in them. It’s probably the one thing that has been missing from his game as he has been outstanding.
“You get days like that in football. They don’t come along too often so we’ll enjoy them but we’ve also got to be understanding that Queen’s Park put a lot into that game and 5-0 was probably a little bit harsh.
“We needed a result to try and get ourselves back on track and into the mix at the top of the table which has tightened right up.”
Ayr took the lead after six minutes when Paddy Reading’s deep cross from the left was met by the head of Akinyemi, who beat Calum Ferrie from a tight angle. The inrushing Young made sure on the line but the plaudits went to Akinyemi.
Ayr doubled their lead after 36 minutes when Akinyemi again kept his cool to pull the ball back and beat Ferrie to finish off a pass from Josh Mullin.
Akinyemi completed his hattrick after 52 minutes, firing home from close range after a great run from Young set him up.
Rampant Ayr made it 4-0 before the hour when Young supplied the finishing touch to some dazzling build-up by Logan Chalmers who was starting his first game after his loan signing from Dundee United.
Still the goals flowed and the inrushing Dempsey grabbed Ayr’s fifth when he turned home a cross from Josh Mullin.
Queens’ head coach Owen Coyle claimed: “We had some unbelievable chances in the game but when you don’t defend properly that’s what happens.
“I’m annoyed because twice in the space of five days we passed up the opportunity to go top.”