AYR United boss Lee Bullen couldn't hide his delight after Ayr United put a valuable three points on the board on Friday night.

The Honest Men put in a five star display as they defeated Queen's Park 5-2 at Hampden - only their second win of the season, and their first on the road.

But Bullen has warned the win "means nothing" just now and says his side can't get ahead of themselves just yet.

“I’ve said since I come in the door," Bullen commented, "don’t get too high when you’re winning games and don’t get too low when you’re not."

It's that mindset that the United boss feels has helped drag their through a rough patch of one win in their opening five league matches - and it's one he wants to maintain.

He continued: “That’s what I’ve told the players the last few weeks when we’ve been losing games – it’s important staff come in and are still positive, and keep ourselves going, and do the right things.

“We’re really pleased, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve got a big game on Saturday [when Raith Rovers come to Somerset] and we know how this league can easily kick you in the backside again.

“We’re delighted to get another three points and haul us closer to the pack – but it means nothing. It’s only one game and our feet are firmly planted."

Despite his insistence that his feet, and those of his players, would stay on the ground, Bullen was still keen to heap praise on his players for their display at Hampden - particularly in view of the criticism that's come their way in recent weeks.

He told the Advertiser that Ayr's game plan on Friday was executed to perfection - starting with Logan Chalmers netting directly from a corner only six minutes in.

Chalmers then netted his second before Ruari Paton halved the deficit - but Ayr responded quickly, with Ahkeem Rose and Jamie Murphy giving the Honest Men a 4-1 lead at half-time.

Barry Hepburn's goal seven minutes into the second period might have given Queens a foothold to get back into the game - but a debut strike from Anton Dowds a minute later closed the door firmly on the Spiders.

 

Unsurprisingly, the result and performance left Bullen with a lot of positives to take out of the game.

He commented: “Sometimes you set out with plans, and we spoke about our first corner.

"They set up in a zone, and we decided to put all the players in there on top of the 16-year-old goalkeeper.

“We told him [Chalmers] to flip it right in under the crossbar, so for it to come off for the first goal was great – and the other goals were fantastic as well.

“There were two or three other opportunities at the end of the game that we could have got as well.

“[Queen's Park] had a lot of possession of the ball, and they play a very nice-on-the-eye, expansive style

"But they leave themselves very open, and we thought the counter attack would cause them problems.

“That’s how it proved – when game plans go well it’s great. They don’t always go to plan, but they certainly did on Friday night.”

Bullen  was also pleased to see all four of his attacking players get on the scoresheet - particularly Dowds, the latest addition to the Ayr squad, who joined on loan from Partick Thistle earlier this month.

Bullen added: “It was great for the four attacking players to get all of the goals, spread out amongst the four of them.

“It was good to see Ahkeem and Anton build up a bit of a relationship, and then the substitutes came on and gave us a bit of a spark.

“There was really good link-up play. Anton knows the league inside out, he’s experienced, he’s different to what we’ve got.

“He’s not got the same pace and energy as the other four boys, but he brings other aspects to the game – his link up play with his communication and experience.

“Jamie [Murphy] and Logan [Chalmers] either side have been outstanding the last couple of games as well.”

And the manager was also pleased by the positive mindset his players showed, with the team showing no signs of a side low on confidence after their slow start to the campaign.

“Losing both the goals, off the back of the last five games in the league, could have easily affected them," he said.

“They showed a lot of positives, I think they took positives from the Partick game and have taken that forward.

“Against Partick we never took our chances; against Queen’s Park we took our chances. That’s the difference.

“That’s part and parcel of Championship football in Scotland. You can see some of the results elsewhere were unexpected for some of the other teams, and that’s how it’s going to be between now and the end of the season.

“Even when we did lose those goals, there was belief that we could go and get another one, and that was great to see that reaction especially off the back of the last couple of results."

The boss had even more praise for Ayr supporters, who travelled in numbers to the national stadium on Friday night.

“Given the team had lost four out of five in the league, it was great to see the numbers up there," Bullen added

“The backing they gave the players was absolutely outstanding, and the players showed that appreciation at the end of the game.

“It was just great to hear the singing and to give them something to actually sing about in the league this season.

“The support have been outstanding, and they stuck with the players brilliantly.”

Now the boss is hoping they can have even more to cheer about back home at Somerset this Saturday, September 30.

The manager added: “There is certainly a little bit more belief after the last few performances and we need to take that forward again into the Raith game.”

Kick-off on Saturday is at 3pm.