Stirling Albion scorned an opportunity to open up a 6 point gap over fourth placed Morton when they slumped to a 3-2 defeat against Ayr United in a match which confirmed why many people opt to go Christmas shopping on the last Saturday before Christmas Day. The fare served up by both sides was dire and the only plus point was that the second half was an improvement on the first.

Stirling’s line up showed 2 changes from the side which exited the Scottish Cup at Brechin. David O’Brien returned to the left wing whilst Andy Gibson wore the number 7 jersey. Paul Hay and Kevin McDonald were relegated to the bench.

The Binos kicked off shooting towards the Ayr supporters housed in the covered enclosure. They forced 2 early corners, the second of which, was confidently held by keeper Roy who had returned to the Ayr line up following a lengthy suspension. Ayr retaliated and a long ball through the middle had Hogarth in some trouble due to the awkward bounce. Much to the relief of the travelling support, the ball was scrambled clear.

Despite the bright start, it was Ayr who took the lead in the 3rd minute when Andrew Ferguson lashed the ball home from a corner after Craig Ferguson had failed to clear the ball properly. However, the award of the corner was highly dubious as it appeared that the ball had not gone over the line. Unfortunately, it was not the first bad decision that particular linesman was to make during the match.

A neat move involving Gibson, McLean and O’Brien ended with the latter shooting over the bar from close range. Ayr full back, Lyle, became the first player to be booked when he cynically brought O’Brien down from behind.

On the half hour mark, McLean picked up a loose pass and headed towards the goals. Unfortunately, his long range effort was weak and didn’t give Roy any problems. McLean and Glancy then linked up but the move finished with another weak effort from Glancy.

A poor first half came to a close with Ayr leading 1-0.

The second half re-started with no changes but the Binos showed a bit more urgency. Good work between Nugent and Gibson ended with a corner. The vicious inswinging corner from Gibson was punched clear by Roy. Gibson was then fouled but his own effort went straight into Roy’s arms.

Gibson and Nugent again linked up when Gibson played the ball inside to Nugent. However, the full back’s shot from the corner of the 6 yard box was blocked by Roy.
Ex Albion favourite Tommy Tait, still playing at the ripe old age of 37, was booked for a foul on Glancy.Ayr then brought on McGrady in place of Connolly.

In 66 minutes the Binos levelled the match when McLean collected a pass from Nugent and cut inside to send a left foot shot past Roy. Glancy was then taken off and Wilson came on in his place.

Nugent was then booked for a foul and this was immediately followed by the move which was to have a major outcome to the final result when Wardlaw came on in place of Nesovic.

6 minutes later, the substitute restored Ayr’s lead when he headed home a cross from the right. 2-1 to Ayr. The Binos responded by taking off McNally and bringing on Hay. This saw Nugent moving into the centre of defence.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes, the Binos continued to press for the equaliser and McLean should have done better than blasting the ball over the bar from 10 yards out. Craig Ferguson was then replaced by McDonald.

Ayr increased their lead in 83 minutes when Wardlaw held off a challenge to send a left foot shot across Hogarth to make it 3-1 to Ayr. The Binos rallied and a neat pass by McLean to Wilson saw the winger’s shot sneak just past the post. With 2 minutes remaining Steven Ferguson came on in place of Andrew Ferguson. A minute later, the Binos scored their second when Wilson got the final touch to a shot from O’Brien. The stadium announcer credited O’Brien with the goal as Wilson was practically standing on the goal line when he got his touch. Whoever is credited with the goal, it made no difference to the eventual outcome, as the referee blew his whistle shortly after that to end the match with the score 3-2 in Ayr’s favour.

To round off a miserable day for some of the Binos’ fans, Athletic Bilbino, the fan’s team, had earlier been beaten 6-2 by Kaisayr.

There were very few plusses to be taken from today’s match. Ayr have only been averaging just over a goal a game and, with the transfer of Kean to St Mirren, the Binos would not have expected to conceded 3 goals. Young Sean Roycroft had another good game and looks a player for the future. The midfield, once again, was disappointing. McLean took his goal well and, hopefully, it will help to boost his confidence for the difficult matches which are about to come up.

Next up is Arbroath at Forthbank and 3 points are essential as the Lichties look to be a good bet for relegation. The Binos will also be hoping to avenge the defeat at Gayfield. This will be the last match before the transfer window opens although the club’s finances may prevent Moore from making any signings and he may have to rely on juggling the existing pool.

Finally, I would like to wish all Binos’ fans a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.