Ayr lose out to derby rivals

But this season many felt the United team would have the ability to see off ‘The Blues’ in their own backyard.
It wasn’t to be that way and the journey home was one full of concerns for the large travelling support. 
The flair and never-say-die attitude has been replaced in the last two games by a team which seems to lack confidence and stutters towards the finishing line. 
Manager Ian McCall’s team selection is hamstrung by the loss of five first-team regulars and in particular the core of his midfield and area of weakness evident in the midweek loss to Cowdenbeath and again at Stranraer. McCall sums up his predicament by saying:t “You've taken out four or five players that would get into any team in the league and we have to use the Saturday off next week to get the injured players fit and I hope will have at least four back for the next game”.
McCall was also concerned about the lack of chances created and in particular when Jordan Preston was sent through one-on-one with the keeper in the second half but failed to find the back of the net. The gaffer had always believed the game would be won by a single goal and Ayr were made to pay soon after when striker Jamie Longworth fired in what would turn out to be the winning goal shortly after."
The conditions for the match  were surprisingly good following the heavy rainfall during storm ‘Frank’ during the week. Despite the deluge the surface, although soft, was in good condition and with no visible water. However, Stranraer were riding a bit of a wave of their own creation following a 5-1 away victory to Stenhousemuir the previous week while Ayr were still muddling through with their makeshift midfield.
Both teams made a tentative opening to the match with neither able to take control. Stranraer, however, created the first real chance of the match in seven minutes as an in swinging free-kick found Scott Robertson near the back post but his header flashed wide.
It took until 17 minutes for the next opening and again it fell to Stranraer with a drive by Sam McCloskey blocked on the line by Ayrr captain Nicky Devlin. 
Three minutes later, Ayr created the first clearcut chance. A beautifully curled and flighted cross from a free-kick by Ryan Stevenson found the head of in-rushing Gerry McLauchlan but his header lacked power and nestled securely in the hands of keeper David McGurn.
Stranraer were beginning to take control with Paul Cairney prompting and driving his team forward from the midfield. Ayr were starved of the ball and struggled to carve out any meaningful chances and were kept in the game by Greg Fleming in the United goals making a string of excellent saves from Malcolm, McCloskey and McGuigan. The best of these came in the 22nd min. 
Stranraer moved the ball from right to left with an excellent cross-field pass from Craig Pettigrew finding McCloskey on the touchline. McCloskey played the ball inside to Cairney who prodded the ball forward to Craig Malcolm on the edge. With his back to the Ayr goal Malcolm held the ball up before again finding Cairney who played a delicious pass behind the Ayr backline and into the path of Mark McGuigan who saw his short blocked and flipped over the bar by Fleming.
In 33 minutes, United managed to carve out a chance.  Muir launched a long ball forward down the left and Preston held it up before slipping it to Crawford who darted into the box and to the by-line. Crawford then played the ball back to Preston in the centre of the box but his goalward drive was blocked by the out rushing Liam Dick.
In an attempt to put Ayr on a forward footing and gain more of the ball in midfield, manager McCall replaced Muir with Alan Trouten, moving Mikey Donald back to more defensive left back role. 
Stranraer continue to have more of the ball and Trouten even found himself forced into deeper positions to help defend but it was from this that Ayr gained the best opportunity of the match. On 54mins Trouten tackled and won the ball in the United penalty area and dribbled down to his own corner flag before launching the ball up field.  As Jordan Preston charged towards the ball defender Scott Rumsby looked odds-on to take control but an unusually high bounce took it over his head allowing the Ayr forward to run into the box. Preston found himself in a one-on-one situation with the keeper but pulled towards his right giving the keeper a better angle and McGurn blocked his shot relatively easily.
Just five minutes later Stranraer were ahead. Jamie Longworth charged forward, evading McLauchlan’s last-ditch tackle some 40 yards out and then found McCloskey to his left in the penalty area. Somehow Fleming managed to save his drive but could only watch helplessly as Jamie Longworth followed up by smashing the rebound into the net. 
The lead was no more than Stranraer deserved and they had their tails up. Two minutes later they almost doubled their lead and again United had their keeper to thank for keeping them in the game.  Jamie Longworth curled a cross field pass to McCloskey who outpaced Donald before releasing a powerful drive which Fleming saved acrobatically.
McCall tried to stiffen up his midfield even further by replacing the tiring Forrest with defender Andy Graham and this appeared to have some effect although Ayr still seemed ineffective in the last third of the pitch.
Ten minutes from time Stranraer were forced to replace goalkeeper McGurn who raced out of his box to go toe-to-toe in a slide tackle with Ayr’s Ryan Stevenson.
The game was held up as the keeper was stretchered off but the referee acknowledged that both players had committed to strong but legal challenges and no one was to blame. 
It did not go unnoticed by the United manager that for the final 10 minutes, Stranraer’s inexperienced young keeper Max Currie hadn’t a save to make and that only Mikey Donald attempted a shot.
Stranraer deserved their victory and a quick look at the statistics shows United were nowhere near their best with around 42 per cent possession and only nine shots in the full 90 minutes.
Whereas an earlier Saturday off seemed to signal the start of this stutter in form and results, this break is certainly a godsend which should allow the Honest Men the time to recover and re-group.
STARMAN: 
 Greg Fleming 3
Mikey Donald 2
Gerry McLauchlan 1.