Published: Tuesday, 9th December, 2008 4:15pm

Ayr Academy latest news

by Stewart McConnell

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SFL Youth Division: Under 17

STENHOUSEMUIR 0 AYR UNITED 7

UNITED travelled to Ochilview to take on a Stenhousemuir side that had been playing at SFA Performance level the previous season and destroyed their opponents with a scintillating display.

Ayr dominated from the start and Brian Taylor went close with a long range effort and it came as no surprise when United took the lead in the 9th minute when Darren Baird finished off a Scott Arthur pass.

Jordan Kelly should have added a second on the quarter of an hour mark as Ayr opened up their opponents on the superb astrograss facility. Ayr"s second came in the 21st minute. From an Arthur cross ball, full back Ian Fisher rose above everyone else to head home and three minutes later, a neat one-two between Arthur and Kelly from which the latter slipped beneath the advancing keeper to put United 3-0 ahead.

Ayr keeper Sam Herbison made a fine save from a long range strike to keep United"s three goal advantage in tact but most of the action was at the other end of the park and when Kelly fired in a great cross, Darren Baird headed just wide.

Six minutes after the restart, Scott Arthur got the goal his play deserved with a rasping 25 yard shot into the top corner to kill off any hopes Stenhousemuir may have had of a comeback. This allowed United manager John Stewart to make a number of changes and introduce a new strikeforce of Paul Bunten and George Thompson. Any respite the home side may have hoped for was shattered as within 20 minutes of coming onto the park, Thompson had helped himself to a hat-trick!

Arthur was again involved in the build up and from his low cross, Thompson slotted home. The second came in a near identical move in the 65th minute before he completed his treble with a sublime effort. Holding off a challenge from the central defender, Thompson turned his marker before chipping the keeper to round off an excellent all round team performance.

Manager John Stewart heaped high praise on his team"s display claiming it was the best he had seen in 10 years in management ' Nobody would have beat us today' claimed Stewart. 'The football was at times the best I have seen in my 10 years in management and importantly we also got the chance to rest some of the defenders who have played nearly every minute of every game. Everyone played to their strengths today and I now have a problem as to who to pick for my starting 11 next week, which is a nice problem to have.'

In the SFA Youth Initiative, the under 16"s travelled to Lesser Hampden and played in a thriller against Queen"s Park that left manager Tom Robertson 'extremely pleased' with his players" performance. 'We are continually working on the defensive side of our game' said Tom 'and today there were real signs of improvement.

'Also upfront we linked and played very well in what was all round an extremely pleasing team performance' added Tom

A good finish from Roddy Paterson and a Robert Kirkland header sandwiched the goal of the match from Ayr"s Mark Armour who controlled an overhead ball, keeping it up, before smashing a volley past the keeper.

Meanwhile the Under 14"s took on Livingston in perfect, if cold, playing conditions at Carrick Academy. Manager Allan Paul though was disappointed in the style of his teams performance. 'Without doubt Livingston are one of the best teams playing at this level. If you look at the results only we would be happy but this is not a results business at this age group and we have to look at the bigger picture' said Paul. 'Our players can play far better and they know it. There was no fluency to our game today, although to their credit, the boys the work hard throughout the game.' United"s goalscorers were Dyer (2), Marlow and March.

The fixtures for this weekend"s matches will be issued once venues and kick off times are confirmed.