By Ian Steven
Two late goals from Ayr United sparked furious demonstrations at New Douglas Park from a clutch of Hamilton supporters enraged by the club’s fourth defeat in a row – with the Lanarkshire side languishing in the relegation playoff position in the Championship.
Accies seemed on course to pick up a point against one of the front runners in the promotion battle only to run out of steam, allowing strikes from Mark McKenzie and George Stanger to thrust Scott Brown’s men to the top of the table.
Despite trudging off to a crescendo of jeers and cat calls, Hamilton boss John Rankin claimed he was unaware of the wrath of the home support.
“Listen, it’s always like that here,” Rankin stated. “It is what it is. It doesn’t faze me, I don’t know. I try and shut the noise out. I’m not aware of any protest at the end to the owners or the board or anything like that. So, I can’t comment on that. They turn on me, but listen, that happens.
“That’s happened three or four seasons in a row now, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I’m hurting as much as they are, if not more. This is my job, this is my livelihood, this is my players, this is the squad that we built.
“And we want to get more out of them, so I’m hurting as much as them. That’s all I can say on it.”
The afternoon almost got off to a calamitous start for the home side as Hamilton conceded a penalty in the 14th minute. Stephen Hendrie’s contorted body thrust a hand inadvertently in the path of Connor McLennans’s cross giving referee Matthew McDermid no choice other than pointing to the spot.
Dean Lyness was more than capable to the task, diving to his right to foil a timid penalty kick from Jay Henderson, seemingly instilling belief in the home side.
Harry Stone had to look sharp to parry a blistering effort from Stephen Hendrie with 15 minutes remaining, with the left back letting fly from a full 30 yards from goal, before the roof fell in on the South Lanarkshire side.
The Honest Men took the lead in the 80th minute as a cross to the back post was met by Mark McKenzie, with the substitute’s header looping over the floundering Dean Lyness.
Three minutes later and Ayr had doubled their lead through George Stanger, turning the ball into the net from close range after a Jake Hastie cross was deflected, leading to the ugly scenes at full time.
Despite watching his side thrust themselves into pole position in the Championship table, Ayr United manager Scott Brown struggled to contain his disdain for the playing surface at New Douglas Park.
“If I’m honest, it was probably one of the worst games of football I’ve watched in the first 45 minutes,” Brown stated. “It doesn’t help that you’re playing on a car park.
“The pitch is so bad that I think there has to be some sort of understanding of the quality of the pitch that you can actually put down. You can’t let everybody play on it continuously and not renew it after ten years. The ball doesn’t roll well. You look at Airdrie’s pitch, brilliant. Teams go there and play and it’s actually good and attractive, but it’s not attractive.
“It actually brought our standard and quality down, and it’s not great for the Scottish game, if I’m honest.”