Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1
Ayr United 1
Scottish Cup (Third Round)

Match Report

A CRACKING strike from Gareth Wardlaw earned Ayr a deserved replay after holding SPL form side Inverness in the Highlands.

United hit back within 60 seconds of falling behind to Rory McAllister’s opener and could have won the game after a storming second half performance in which they were the better side.

Ayr had their tactics spot on from the first whistle as Inverness and the home support quickly became frustrated at their lack of progress.

United matched Caley’s 4-4-2 system with Mark Casey and Chris Robertson teaming up in midfield while skipper for the day, Dougie Ramsay, was pulled to left back.

And after Caley failed to get the early goal they craved, the game was Ayr’s for the taking.

Paul Hyslop provided Wardlaw with an 11th minute chance but the big striker couldn’t get enough on the cross to divert it past Mark Brown.

Three minutes later, Wardlaw led a great counter attack as he sent Craig Conway free down the right and he beat Stuart Golabek before cutting inside and curling a left foot effort which was well saved by Brown.

Caley were struggling to find gaps in the Ayr defence which was superbly marshalled by the outstanding Johnny Baillie.

But they did find a way through in the 20th minute when Barry Wilson got goal-side of Ramsay but his cross to the unmarked McAllister was cleared by James McKinstry.

Ayr were growing in confidence on the break with Conway in particular proving a thorn in the side that Inverness couldn’t cope with.

His pace and trickery gave him the chance to cross from the left for Hyslop to ghost in at the backpost and send an effort straight at Brown.

Then came Caley’s only clear-cut chance of the half when Dennis Wyness’ cross evaded the Ayr defence and Wilson arrived to blast over when he should have hit the target.

United were boosted by the miss and Conway again caused problems when his mazy run left two defenders trailing in his wake before he launched a 25 drive inches over the bar.

And Ayr picked up where they left off at the start of the second half as they controlled the early going and put their hosts on the backfoot.

Hyslop had a great chance to fire United ahead four minutes after the restart but saw his shot parried by Brown and the rebound fell inches wide of Jerome Vareille.

Caley then took the lead against the run of play – but only after Wyness had a miss of the season contender when he scooped Ross Tokely’s cutback up on to the bar from just two yards.

But his blushes were spared when McAllister hooked home the rebound from ten yards to leave Ayr deflated.

However, they surged forward from the kick-off and were level within 60 seconds when a clever Vareille lay-off found Wardlaw and he tore through the heart of the Caley defence before rifling a left foot drive below Brown from 20 yards.

Wardlaw celebrated among the travelling support and was booked for his troubles after hauling himself free from behind the goal.

Inverness were ripped apart time and again by Conway as he enjoyed plenty of change out of Tokely and most of the home side’s five bookings came for fouls on United’s flying machine.

Caley were short on ideas and couldn’t find a way past Baillie and Barry McLaughlin. When they did come close in the 70th minute, Liam Fox saw his drive cleared by McLaughlin on the line.

But it was Ayr who came closest to a winner in the 79th minute when sub Andy Reid, on for the flagging Hyslop, saw a fizzing effort from just inside the box tipped wide by Brown.

From the resultant Reid corner which bounced around dangerously in the area, Baillie blasted over on the turn.

Ayr held on with relative comfort in the latter stages and Caley’s afternoon was summed up with two minutes to go when they finally did fashion a clear-cut chance for Golabek but the defender fluffed his shot wide from ten yards.

The final whistle then sounded on a fine Ayr display and they’ll now take Inverness back to Somerset on Tuesday, January 17.

Match report written by Ayr United FC Official Website