IAN McCall was left bemused after Ayr United were denied a stonewall penalty late on in their 1-0 loss to Falkirk at Somerset Park writes Stephen Bark.
James Craigen’s 15th minute strike was enough to send the Bairns home with all three points but Ayr were twice denied spot-kicks in the second half.
The first came when Scott McKenna was wrestled off the ball as he headed wide from a corner and the second saw sub Andy O’Connel have his jersey almost ripped off him by David McCraken as he tried to retrieve a cross.
The Ayr manager was left dumbfounded when he spoke to the linesman after the game.
He told Sportscene: “How they missed one of the penalties is beyond me. I mean the whole crowd saw it. He nearly had his jersey pulled off. I don’t know what the directive is but it’s a stonewall penalty. You just give it.
“The linesman said he saw it. Well, if you saw it give it.”
The Honest Men dominated the second half but just couldn’t create that clear cut chance that would have gotten them a point. United have now lost four games on the spin ahead of tonight’s clash against Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park.
McCall, however, was pleased at how close Ayr came to getting something from the play-off chasing Bairns.
He said: “You know what, to be here sitting that we’re gutted at losing to a team like Falkirk says an awful lot for us. We penned them in in the second half. The desire and the effort lead to a lot of good play in the forward areas as well.
“We played very open because of the personnel that were out but I would say we certainly did enough to merit a draw in the game at least.”
Patrick Boyle on the left and Nicky Devlin on the right delivered wonderful crosses that were begging to be tapped into the net but, without an out and out centre forward, Ayr just couldn’t get the right connection in the box.
McCall hopes, once the injuries clear up, that those kind of chances can be buried regularly.
He added: “I think it was maybe down to the personnel that’s not here. Once wee Craig Moore’s back, that net will be bulging with that type of delivery and it was a fantastic delivery. As I say, second half we played on the edge. We knew we were going to be susceptible to the counter attack but we were certainly the dominant team for nearly all the second half.
“It’s all minor stuff so I’m not sure they’ll make Tuesday but they certainly should be back within a week.”
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