Queen’s Park 2 Ayr United 3

Queen’s lost out in a second half five goal blitz last night at Hampden as visitors Ayr United took all three points back to Ayrshire.

Following our impressive win at Raith Rovers last time out, Head Coach Callum Davidson made four changes to the starting line up – Louis Longridge, Kyle Hurst, Ben Jackson and Leon King all started, with places on the bench for Zach Mauchin, Nikola Ujdur, Seb Drozd and Adam Montgomery.

Ayr got the game underway shooting towards the Mount Florida end on a slick Hampden surface which was heavily watered before kick off. It was the visitors who made a fast start, and sharp, crisp passing saw most of the action in the Queen’s half. Ayr forced a number of corners in the early stages without over troubling the home defence.

12 minutes in and Queen’s forced a corner on the right side as a pass from Sean Welsh found Zak Rudden, whose cross was blocked. Queen’s tried a training ground short corner routine as Ryan Duncan found Jack Turner at the near post, however Jack’s return pass found Duncan offside and the danger passed.

The visitor’s early domination faded slightly as Queen’s grew into the game and the last 15 minutes of so of the half saw more of the action at the Kings Park end of the National Stadium. Indeed, as half time approached, slick play from the Spiders saw a Duncan pass dummied by Welsh and Rudden fed the ball quickly onto Longridge at the edge of the box, however Louis’s shot was blocked and the half ended goalless.

Half Time: Queen’s Park 0 – Ayr United 0

The second period started brightly from both teams, Ayr pressing down Queen’s right side forcing King and Devine to make timely interventions as the visitors looked to their wide players to stretch the home defence. Queen’s also looked to maintain the forward play seen in the later stages of the first half and it paid off with the opening goal after 49 minutes. A Ryan Duncan corner on the right was whipped in and Jack Turner rose at the edge of the six-yard box to glance a fine header into the net.

Ayr went straight back onto the attack and a pass down the left wing saw a chase between Adam Devine and an Ayr forward resulting in Cal Ferrie rushing from goal to block the ball at the expense of a corner. Thankfully for the home fans, the corner came to nothing.

A second goal came for Queen’s after 54 minutes and a thing of beauty it was. An accurate long pass out of defence from Leon King found Duncan wide on the left. Ryan cut inside, passed to Zak Rudden who took a touch, swivelled and fired a tremendous shot from the edge of the box which beat keeper Josh Clarke low to his left side.

Sadly for Queen’s the scoring wasn’t over. After 66 minutes a Marco Rus shot found the net and 2 minutes later the visitors thought they had drawn level when the ball was again in the Queen’s net, however the assistant’s flag on the near side saved the day.

Rudden had a shot on goal after 75 minutes but it sailed well over the bar and a minute later Ayr equalised. A clearance up field from Duncan saw Rudden and Ayr defender Agbaire tussle for the ball. Many of the home supporters felt Rudden was fouled, however referee Lloyd Wilson was unmoved and waved play on. Slick passing down the Queen’s left side saw Ben Dempsey strike a shot from just inside the box which went into the net off Cal Ferrie’s right hand post.

79 minutes on the clock and a cross on the right from Rus saw Curtis Lee rise highest at the far post to head what proved to be the winning goal. Few in attendance at Hampden would have predicted at half time that the second period would see five goals – unfortunately, Queen’s came out on the wrong end of the 2-3 final score and must dust themselves down and prepare for Saturday’s Scottish Cup quarter final at Aberdeen.

Full time: Queen’s Park 2 – Ayr United 3

Queen’s Park: Calum Ferrie (C), Sean Welsh, Louis Longridge (Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia 85mins), Kyle Hurst (Seb Drozd 70mins), Ben Jackson, Will Tizzard, Zak Rudden, Jack Turner, Ryan Duncan, Adam Devine (Adam Montgomery 85mins), Leon King (Zach Mauchin 70mins).
Unused Substitutes: Jack Wills, Nikola Ujdur, Josh Hinds, Jadan Raymond, Reece Evans.

Ayr United: Josh Samuel Clarke, Nicholas McAllister, Ben Dempsey (C), George Oakley, George Stanger, Jay Henderson (Curtis Lee Main 57mins), Marco Alin Rus (Ethan Walker 81mins), Lenny Agbaire, Dylan Watret (Jake Hastie 57mins), Scott McMann, Cole McKinnon (Mark McKenzie 57mins).
Unused Substitutes: Robbie Mutch, Harry Stone, Patrick Reading, Frankie Musonda.

Referee: Lloyd Wilson