Ayr United 1 Morton 0: Ref nightmare holds Ton to defeat

Jay Henderson's second half penalty was all that separated the sides in a hotly contested battle at Somerset Park, but Ryan Mullen and the rest of his teammates were left enraged when the whistler missed a clear double touch when the spot kick was being taken as his side were left to lick their wounds at a poor decision going against them once again.

And the loss means that Imrie's side drop to eighth in the table with Raith and Hamilton picking up positive results elsewhere.

Ton made the trip to South Ayrshire full of confidence after last weekend's resounding victory over Airdrieonians.

Ton never looked in any danger of losing out to Rhys McCabe, but they could've very easily hit the self destruct button at any point with their confidence in playing out from the back.

Ton had to show both sides of the game against United (Image: Gary Bradley)

It was a statement win, due to the sheer dominance that was on show as they went about their business. But Dougie Imrie wanted his side to make a different kind of noise this time around as they looked to disrupt Ayr United's unbeaten start to the season.

Scott Brown's big spending and joint top of the table Honest Men were yet to taste defeat in the league this season, having beaten Hamilton twice and Airdrieonians, whilst picking up draws against Partick, Queen's Park and Dunfermline.

However the Ton chief wanted his side to go and defy the odds that were stacked against them at Somerset Park, with budgets and Championship experience seriously stacked in favour of the home side.

Ayr United (4-2-3-1) Russell, Watret, McAllister, Stanger, Musonda, Syla, Dempsey, Henderson, Rus(Hastie,83), Walker(Bavidge,68), Oakley(McKenzie,75)

Subs not used: McIntyre, Reading

Bookings: Syla(74)

Scorers: Henderson(66, PEN)

Morton(4-1-3-2) Mullen, Ballantyne, Baird, Broadfoot, Delaney, Wilson(Blues,78), Crawford, Lyall, McGinn, Moffat(Davies,67), Reynolds(Stuparevic,56)

Subs not used: Woods, Gillespie, King, O'Boy

Bookings: Wilson(34) Broadfoot(52) Mullen(67)

ATT: 2846

MoTM: Ali Crawford - A solid effort on the right hand side of the attack

Ref: Colin Duncan

And Ton headed into the game off the back of securing the signature of Serbian Under 21 international, Filip Stuparevic as the Motherwell man looked to fill the void left behind by Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.

He was immediately drafted into the squad to take a place on the bench in a side that only had one change to the team that beat the Diamonds last time around.

Jack Baird returned to the side for the first time since the Falkirk game. He replaced the injured Morgan Boyes who was forced off late on thanks to a thigh complaint, but other than that it was a fairly settled team.

Former Ton hero George Oakley, who swapped Greenock for Ayrshire in the summer, was given the nod to lead the line against his former employers, with the hearty crowd of Ton fans hoping that he wouldn't come back to haunt the support that once adored him.

Ton started so brightly against the Diamonds last time around and that set the tone for the rest of the game. It was imperative they did the same here.

And they should've been ahead inside three minutes after capitalising on a horrible Ayr corner. Arron Lyall controlled Henderson's low driven effort and set McGinn off on the counter attack.

He and Reynolds had Watret retreating, with McGinn feeding Reynolds in on Russell's goal. Reynolds opted to pass instead of shooting and let the home side off massively.

Oakley's first big chance would come inside seven minutes after drifting in between Baird and Broadfoot. But he'd get his effort from 18-yards all wrong, passing into Mullen's grasp.

Iain Wilson was spared of any blushes midway through the half after gifting Oakley with a glorious opportunity to run through on goal. He used Ethan Walker in support, who wildly curled over from the edge of the box.

It would somehow remain goalless in the closing stages of the half as Lamar Reynolds again should've saw the back of the net burst, but instead he saw his handball claims waved away.

Reynolds had a case for a penalty waved away (Image: Gary Bradley)

Cammy Ballantyne's cross caused Russell and Stanger to get their wires crossed with the keeper spilling the ball under pressure from his teammate, into the path of Reynolds whose volley cannoned off of McAllister, with Imrie certain it hit his arm. But Colin Steven was unmoved and both sides went into the break level.

After yet another edgy start to the second half. Ton had Ryan Mullen to thank for keeping the scoring level ten minutes after the restart. Broadfoot had initially done well to head Walker's cross clear, with the ball falling kindly for Jay Henderson who rattled a first time volley towards the top left corner, but Mullen's cat-like reflexes saw him palm the ball brilliantly for a corner.

And he was aggrieved when Ayr would take the lead with 25-minutes to play, after Jay Henderson scored from the penalty spot.

Jack Baird needlessly brought Ethan Walker down in the box, with the ball looking to be going out of play, with Steven pointing to the spot.

Henderson would step up and slip whilst about to hit the ball, looking to hit the ball with both his standing foot and his shooting foot, whilst wrong footing the Ton keeper. Several of the Ton team were incensed, protesting to both Steven and his linesman, but the goal stood and Mullen went into the book.

The reaction of not only the Ton stopper, but also of Dougie Imrie and his staff was telling as they dreaded yet another moment of madness from an official dictating the balance of the game.

A sea of changes saw Ayr look to hold onto their slender lead, but they had to call on Liam Russell to keep their lead intact with little over 10-minutes to play.

Jordan Davies' long throw from the left caused confusion in the box, with Stanger eventually heading clear to Blues on the edge of the box. His first time effort was looking bound for the back of the net bar a last ditch lunge to claw the ball away from the Ayr stopper.

But that would be it for Ton as they were left to rue officiating decisions going against them for yet another week.

Those are ultimately decisions that also go for you when you're flying high at the top of the table. Imrie though will have been left berating the calls of not only the man in the middle but his front line as the chances missed in the first half came back to haunt them.