AYR United boss Scott Brown says he was encouraged by his side's performance as they shared the points with Partick Thistle.
The Honest Men made it five matches unbeaten in all competitions as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Somerset Park on Saturday.
Brown said it was a game of two halves for the South Ayrshire outfit who grew into the game against Championship title hopefuls Thisle.
He told Ayr United TV: “Our first half performance we were slow, we didn’t take enough care of the ball to be honest.
“I feel like the lads, in the first half, they felt a little bit under pressure and instead of being composed and calm on the ball they just fired it long. That’s no us.
“The second half performance was miles better. The calmness on the ball, the quality of Ben [Dempsey] getting on it and controlling the game.
“We got after them way more, the press was better, in the first half we gave them too much respect.”
Brown said he was encouraged by the second half showing despite two gilt edged opportunities passing by.
He added: “I’m encouraged by the performance, I’m happy for the lads that we got another clean sheet, we just wanted that win.
“We defended when we had to defend but we had two clear cut chances, I think we had more clear-cut chances.
“We looked like the team that was in the ascendency right up to the end, I felt quietly comfortable in the game.
“Partick have been scoring goals for fun, we probably didn’t match that first half but second half I thought we more than matched that.”
The Somerset boss also gave individual praise to goalkeeper Liam Russell who kept his third consecutive clean sheet since being introduced into the starting line-up.
Brown continued: “Liam is extremely calm on the ball, he’s a great young lad as well, you can hear him talking from the back.
“He oozes confidence into the lads as well, which is great for a young kid.
“The saves that he makes, that’s all on Timmo [Dave Timmins], he puts him under a lot of pressure every day in training and sets standards.
“That’s what pays off and you can see those big saves and what a good goalie he is.”
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