Damage in the Box!: AYR UNITED (Somerset Park)

After recovering from the night before, it was a quick trip down the A71 and the second leg of the Scottish double. Destination today was Somerset Park, home to Ayr United and their clash with Brechin City, 1st v 2nd. It had all the makings of a cracker and the sun was beating down too. The omens were looking good!

This was another straight forward ground to find as it is more or less opposite the racecourse as you enter the town. You can see the floodlights peering above the houses. After parking up, it was a chance to walk around and savour this gem of a ground. I purchase my programme (£2) and, disappointingly, again, there were no badges on sale, but at least they had a shop! After (literally) blowing away the cobwebs over the turnstile entrance, I pay my £12 and enter the arena. This is a truly old fashioned ground in every sense.

There is only one side of the ground that has any seats and that is the main stand. The other three sides of the ground are terracing. It has been the home of Ayr since they were founded in 1910 and apart from the signs of age this ground, probably, doesn’t look any different from the day it was built. It currently has a capacity of 12,128. The record attendance for Somerset Park came against Rangers in 1969 with 25,225 people attending on the 13th September 1969. It is one of the largest capacity stadiums outside of the Scottish Premier League but only 1,597 of the total capacity are seats. It is due to be sold off for housing and a new ground built on the outskirts of town.

After placing myself high on the open terrace, i stood back to watch an entertaining game of football. Brechin made the early running in an end-to-end game but probably shaded the first half hour or so. It was no surprise when they took the lead when Gary Twigg headed home unmarked from a corner to send the travelling 28 fans into raptures. However, Ryan Stephenson equalised for Ayr just before half time when he hit home a 25 yarder into the bottom corner.

The second half continued in the same vein with the game flowing and both teams had their chances. Ayr dominated the possession and tested the Brechin keeper with a series of long range efforts. However, Brechin always looked dangerous on the break and it was Twigg who missed a chance to wrap up the three points right at the end when keeper Stephen Grindlay made a point blank save, which, in all honesty, should’ve been converted. A draw was a fair reflection of the game and a point was enough to ensure Ayr were top of the league come 5pm

So that was another Scottish weekend over and thoroughly enjoyable it was too. I vowed I wouldn’t get into the Scottish ground hopping but it becoming increasingly harder not to. Until next time!!