Play-offs 2011: Ayr United 1-1 Brechin City

Weir hails hero keeper Nelson

By MATTHEW HAROLD at Somerset Park

BRECHIN City boss Jim Weir had his veteran goalkeeper Craig Nelson to thank in the first leg of the play-off final at Somerset Park.

The 39-year-old stopper managed to snuff out the Ayr United attack and keep the Glebe Park side in touching distance of the first division.

After losing a first half strike from former Girvan forward Michael Moffat, the keeper who will turn 40 at the end of the month showed his value to his side, saving second half efforts from Moffat, Mark Roberts and Alan Trouten, that kept Weir’s side in the game.

The Brechin gaffer said of his keeper: “Nelson’s been first class for us, he’s been terrific for this football club with his great experience and some terrific saves.

"I’m disappointed with the defending at times, it was careless, but we’ve got a couple of players that are really struggling with injury but they’re putting themselves on the line.”

With his side seemingly going down to defeat late-on, the Angus side managed to steal a goal as substitute Neil Janczyk hit a free kick from the right-wing that was missed by the Ayr defence and keeper Alan Martin, as well as the on-rushing Jamie Redman and Rory McAllister, to go into the bottom corner of the net.

Weir claimed after the match he would have been happy to leave Somerset Park one goal down, saying: “I think after the first half I would have taken it, with the way we had started, we didn’t even have a shot in the first half, which is not like us.

“We were obviously interrupted with Roy McBain pulling out after the pre-match meal and he hasn’t been feeling very well and we had to make a change there that didn’t help us out. I’m disappointed with the goal lost, probably their only real effort in the first half, although I thought they controlled possession but I think, even with five minutes to go I was quite happy to take a one goal defeat at that point.”

The former St Johnstone defender was asked whether the result felt like a win, claiming: “I wouldn’t say it feels like a win, the tie is still very much in the balance, Ayr is an excellent side and they showed that tonight, but hopefully the Brechiners get behind us because there’s a lot at stake, I don’t think anybody’s favourites, so it’s about who makes the least mistakes and who’s goalkeeper makes the most saves.”

And on how his side have to play in the second leg, Weir said: “We certainly need to make more chances than we did tonight and I would expect to do that at home, it might be won by the odd goal and certainly we need to be more positive in the last third and we’ve certainly got to defend better than we did tonight, we can’t rely on our goalkeeper to make the saves that he did tonight on Sunday or we’ll find ourselves still in the Second division, I’m proud of the players because they kept going, they stuck at it and they’ve given us a realistic chance to move up a league.”

His opposite number Brian Reid was gutted that his side couldn’t finish the chances that he created, saying: “I thought that our play deserved more and everybody saw the chances that we created, and I was frustrated and disappointed won the game, never mind going up the road with a draw.

“But you’ve got to take plenty of positives out of it, their goalkeeper keeps them in the game with a couple of magnificent saves, with a wee bit of composure in areas, as well as a wee bit more time and put the ball in the net, which we should have done and we could have got a lot more goals, it’s a two legged game, it’s not a one-off tie, so even if we had one the game we’ve still got to make sure that we do the job, but the difference now is we have to go up there and win the game.”

On his side’s chances in the second leg at Glebe Park, Reid claimed: “We went up there and won 3-0 with a full strength squad not long ago, so we’re capable of doing that, but we’re not under any illusions we’re not going to go up there and underestimate them.

“Brechin are a stuffy team, their difficult to beat on their own park, but as I say this is a one-off cup tie and we’ll outnumber their support by three or four to one at least so it’ll certainly be like a home tie and it’s up to us to do the job.”

Reid was upset that his side failed to put the game away, saying: “We made quite a lot of chances, the only disappointing thing is that we never really took them, we scored seven goals against Forfar in the last tie and on another night it could have been the same.

“With the chances that we created, I’m not saying that we would have won 7-1, but I think we could have comfortably won by three or four with the chances that we created, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”

Ayr United: Martin, Lauchlan, Smith, Malone, Campbell, Bannigan (Easton 83), McLaughlin, Trouten, Moffat, Roberts (Rodgers 86), McCann (Tiffoney 87). Subs Not Used: Crawford, Robertson.

Brechin City: Nelson, Cook, McLean, McLauchlan, Moyes, Redman, Molloy, McKenna (Byers 81), McAllister, Megginson (Janczyk 75), Kirkpatrick (Fusco 53). Subs Not Used: Scott, White.

Attendance: 2,020

Referee: Steve Conroy

Man of the Match: Craig Nelson (Brechin City)