Ayr United 1 Dundee 3: Dark Blues relieved to be moving on up
Rhys Weston marked his first-team return with the opening goal as Dundee found form to leapfrog Ayr United.
- Published in the Courier : 24.10.11
- Published online : 24.10.11 @ 12.12pm
The Dark Blues defender has had to bide his time on the sidelines during a frustrating start to the campaign.
However, having helped his side off bottom spot, Weston believes Dundee can keep climbing the table.
He said: "Today is a massive win for us because being bottom can be demoralising and it is not where we wanted to be.
"Performances up to a point haven't been too bad, although not as good as we would have liked. But we knew as a group that we weren't far away from a win like this.
"No-one wants to be bottom of the table because it can drain confidence but the manager has done a great job keeping spirits up and we have rallied round and got a big result."
This was a game Dundee dominated almost from start to finish at a blustery Somerset Park. They set the tone early on when Nicky Riley seized on a loose pass out of the Ayr defence and made a bee-line for the box.
The little winger held off two challenges before firing a left-foot shot narrowly over.
Riley was involved again as the Dark Blues went ahead in 16 minutes. His angled drive was blocked by Eddie Malone but Stephen O'Donnell looped over a cross and Weston was unmarked to head in at the back post.
The visitors should have extended their lead in controversial fashion after being awarded a penalty for an infringement spotted only by referee John McKendrick.
He deemed that John Robertson had tugged Weston's jersey but Matt Lockwood's drilled spot-kick was parried away by Kevin Cuthbert.
Ryan Conroy's resulting corner was headed against the bar by Gavin Rae as United continued to ride their luck.
Ayr, devoid of attacking intent in the first half, briefly livened up on the restart and O'Donnell was forced to hook a dangerous Mark Roberts cross off the six-yard line.
Dundee still looked more likely to add to the scoring and they did so in 70 minutes. Young striker Leighton McIntosh robbed Andy Geggan and slid the ball under Cuthbert.
Mark Roberts offered Ayr hope by converting a penalty after Lockwood upended Michael Moffat. However, Dundee deservedly had the final say when Steven Milne headed in a late clincher.
Manager Barry Smith said: "This result will be good for the players' confidence but we won't get carried away.
"Now we'll work towards next Saturday's game against Partick Thistle."
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