AYR United boss Scott Brown said he was delighted to put a smile back on the face of fans as his side earned their first league win of the season.
It has been a challenging start to the Scottish Championship campaign for the Honest Men, who drew four and lost one of their opening five matches.
But the South Ayrshire outfit managed to get three points on the board with a superb 1-0 win against Dunfermline Athletic on Tuesday, with Brown getting the better of his old Celtic boss Neil Lennon.
“The main stat for us was we managed to get three points on the board, a first win," the Somerset Park boss told Ayr United TV. "I’m delighted for the lads.
“They’ve been working so hard all the way through pre-season, they’ve been working so hard in games – especially the last three games, we should have picked up more points.
“I’m just over the moon for them being in that dressing room, having that win, and not having to listen to my dulling tones all the time.”
An injury to Curtis Main - who is expected to be out for "a couple of weeks" - forced Brown to change his starting team with Mark McKenzie added to the line-up.
3 pts and up the road 👍😎🏁 The wee shriek at the end lol 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/USZjywlIHN
— Somerset Boab (@SomersetBoab) September 23, 2025
It was a move which paid dividends as McKenzie poked home the rebound from a Scott McMann effort to score the game's only goal after just nine minutes, with Jeremiah Chiloka-Mullen for the hosts and Dylan Watret for the visitors both receiving their marching orders in the second half.
“I thought we started like a house on fire. We showed our energy, our quality, we had chances early and we eventually got the goal," Brown commented.
The manager believed it was a full squad effort that got his side over the line.
He added: “I thought the starting 11 were exceptional with their work rate, their understanding, the desire to go win the ball back and when we brought the subs in later in the game – we could have scored a couple of goals later on.
“We’ve got to have that little bit of ruthlessness, you’ve got to be able to kill a team off, you can’t just rely on the back four and the goalie as well.”
However, Brown was full of praise for stopper David Mitchell for his efforts in earning Ayr the win.
He continued: “I went in there absolutely delighted for him because we’ve not had a clean sheet.
“I thought his distribution was exceptional from start to finish, his decision making as well was really good but the saves – that’s what gets us the three points.”
While Brown was full of praise for the travelling Ayr support who made their way to East End Park on a cold September evening.
He said: “It was hard, but I’m delighted for the fans because they were singing all the way through the game.
“It means a lot, we know they’ve not had too much to celebrate about recently.
“The win his put a smile on their face, puts a smile on our face and it freshens our lads up as well.”
Next up for Ayr is a home fixture against the Championship's bottom side Airdrieonians on Saturday, September 27. Kick off is at 3pm.
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