Comedy own goal gets Ayr’s new era off to perfect start as Arbroath’s undefeated run comes to shuddering halt

And in the wind, rain, and sleet, it never enthralled but had it all. The comedy winner, Sean McGinty producing a performance so brave it would have made Terry Butcher blush, and Arbroath’s undefeated run, stretching all the way back to October, coming to a shuddering halt.

Devoid of their suspended talisman Tomi Adeloye, whose seven league goals have been at odds with Ayr’s scoring woes, the home side turned to Michael Moffat for his first start since October, with Aaron Muirhead the other change from the Honest Men’s impressive Boxing Day win against Raith Rovers. 

This was Ayr’s first game since that shock victory and there was a notable pre-match buzz snaking its way through the 500 lucky souls inside Somerset Park when Bullen strode out of his dugout to embrace Arbroath’s Rab Douglas but that wasn’t matched by a helter skelter start on the pitch. Cautious, that’s the best word for it, with Moffat cutting a forlorn figure amid of a scattering of long balls in his general direction. 

The first real chance, unsurprisingly, fell Arbroath’s way ten minutes in when, after a neat link up with the ever-willing David Gold on the right, Scott Stewart twisted inside the box and fired towards goal, only for McGinty to bravely block away for a corner. It wasn’t the last time the captain would put his body on the line for the team. 

Michael Moffat came in from the cold and impressed

With the tails of Joel Nouble and company suitably up, it looked like Ayr might have buckled under the pressure. James Craigen flashed a volley wide and Thomas O’Brien warmed up Aidan McAdams’ gloves. 

When, suddenly, remarkably, a comedy of Arbroath errors handed the hosts the lead. If the first goal of the new era proves a sign of things to come, then we should get used to chuckling away to viral clips from Somerset. 

Where to even begin? A long ball over the top looked harmless enough, but Moffat refused to wilt, harried Derek Gaston into needlessly rushing off his line and prodding the ball into James Maxwell’s path. Even then, with three red shirts back, the danger looked slight but somehow Ricky Little contrived to dart beyond his keeper and fumble the ball into his own net.

It was not the sort of thing you’d expect from a team with their eyes on the title. 

For a spell, Ayr looked a different beast entirely. As did Arbroath, who seemed bereft of composure entirely. Maxwell floated across the pitch, Andy Murdoch seemed happy to take on the visitors’ midfield by himself, and even Moffat, at 36 and without a league goal since November 2020, strode around showing off his full repertoire of flicks, like a once proud but ageing peacock enjoying its final grand tour.  

Dick Campbell’s failed to make the most of results elsewhere

All the Ayr endeavour very nearly brought a much-merited second when Patrick Reading squeezed beyond Arbroath’s defensive line and pinged the ball towards the corner, only for Gaston to claw it around the post. A stramash from the set play saw another effort hacked away in a flush of panic. 

Campbell, who’d strangely spent the half at the far side, had seen enough and headed inside no doubt to warm up his voice for the half-time rollocking his underwhelming team deserved. Maybe they saw this and feared the worst, but the Red Litchies upped the ante for the final five minutes, Craigen again angling just wide of McAdams’ goal and McGinty being forced to block a Stewart rocket with his face. 

As the half-time whistle sounded, the Honest Men had earned the rapturous applause that greeted them. 

For Arbroath, it was a different story entirely. In a typically infectious clip doing the rounds this week, Campbell responded to the idea they might just go all the way with a trademark retort. “Shut up! Are you kidding me on?” he said, with his tongue pressed firmly against his cheek. Safe to say, it must have been anything but at the break and, in fairness, his side responded. 

Ricky Little, centre right, was the unfortunate villain of the piece

With Campbell now in the dugout, they looked sharper, the ball increasingly finding its way to the tricky feet of Nouble, who sent pulses racing whenever he tried to weave his way towards McAdams’ goal. And they limited Ayr, Bullen’s men left to savour the welcome reprieve of David Munro’s whistle every time it sounded as the unease among the home support grew louder with each passing minute. 

But Ayr’s house refused to be blown down and it was actually the hosts who went closest, McGinty thundering a header just over the bar and Fraser Bryden forcing Gaston another fine save.