AYR United have dropped out of the Scottish Championship play-off places after falling to defeat against Partick Thistle at the weekend.
A horror start to the match ultimately led to a 2-1 loss at Firhill as the title hopefuls claimed a valuable three points and pushed the Honest Men down to fifth.
The hosts took the lead early in the encounter with former Ayr man Logan Chalmers striking home the opener after just 12 minutes.
The Jags doubled their lead just two minutes later as Alex Samuel glanced home, and on 17 minutes it looked as though United's woes were to be further compounded.
Thistle were awarded a spot kick with a chance to make it three, but Liam Russell kept Ayr in the tie with a save from Chalmers' effort.
It proved to be a turning point for the visitors who bombarded the Thistle goal in the remaining minutes but could only find one in reply - a Curtis Main strike on the hour mark.
And to add insult to injury, head coach Scott Brown was shown a red card late on by referee Grant Irvine.
“I’m a little bit frustrated," assistant boss Steven Whittaker told Ayr United TV. "I don’t think we started the game particularly well.
“They got up against second balls and won that battle in the middle of the pitch, which is key.
“I think that has set us on the back foot. We lost two goals in the end and could have lost another with the penalty.
“Liam’s save allows us to regroup, we started to work it out a little more towards the end of the first half. We fixed a few things at half-time and the second half performance was a lot better.”
Ayr would be able to take further positives with the return of George Oakley, who was introduced with 15 minutes to play.
It was a first appearance since early October for the striker, who has been on the treatment table since then.
“I’ve worked very hard to get to this point," Oakley told Ayr United TV, "but it’s a tough one because you want a good experience coming back.
“It’s the toughest place to be because you want to help the team but I’m back now and I want to help the team keep fighting.
“I’m still to get my match sharpness. It felt good to be out there, I didn’t feel that off it.”
Next up for Ayr is a trip to face Scottish Championship leaders St Johnstone in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup on Tuesday, January 27.
“It’s a competition we have aimed to do well in," Whittaker added. "It’s a tough draw but we go there having had a good performance earlier in the season.
“We need to re-group, learn from today and hopefully go up there and put a good performance in.”
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