SUPER Sunday will not merely involve the top and bottom of the Premier League.
If this engrossing, thrill-a-minute first leg is any guide, the second leg of this First Division play-off final at the Excelsior Stadium will be quite a match. Airdrie United's near-total command of the opening period saw them go in at the break
with a handy two-goal lead, both goals down to Ayr's inability to deal with set-pieces.
Paul Di Giacomo fired his side in front on the half hour. Scott McLaughlin's corner from the right was headed on to the bar by Robert Donnelly, the dropping ball precipitated a spot of six-yard-box pin-ball, before the former Kilmarnock player got the crucial touch from three yards.
McLaughlin was again involved in Airdrie's second, two minutes before the break. His free-kick, following Neil McGowan's booking for a foul on Darren Smith, was not dealt with by Stephen Grindlay, who was stranded as John Baird doubled the visitors' lead, although television pictures indicated a touch off Ayr defender Scott Walker.
Ayr's half-time team-talk bore fruit in 48 minutes, when former Diamond Mark Roberts turned on a Chris Aitken pass to rifle the ball past Stephen Robertson from 15-yards. Roberts squared the tie in 67 minutes, popping up unmarked at the back post to knock home Willie Easton's reverse ball across goal, from a deep Dean Keenan free-kick.
The drama continued in 72 minutes, when Ayr were given a penalty after a pile-up of players in the Airdrie box at a corner. Donnelly was booked, apparently guilty of upending Martyn Campbell. But Aitken's spot-kick was brilliantly turned aside by Robertson to keep it all-square.
Ayr were reduced to ten men late on after McGowan picked up his second yellow card, both for fouls on Darren Smith.
Ayr United: Grindlay, Dempsie, McGowan, Walker, Campbell, Connolly, Keenan, Aitken, Prunty (Gormley 65), Robert, Easton. Subs not used: Mitchell, Henderson, Woodburn, Borris.
Airdrie United: Robertson, McLachlan, Bobby Donnelly, Smyth, Lovering, Darren Smith, McDonald (McDougall 87), McKenna, McLaughlin, Di Giacomo (Lynch 83), Baird. Subs Not Used: Hollis, Nixon, Brown.
Referee: E Smith. Attendance: 3,378.
The full article contains 383 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
