Ayr United 1 - 0 Dunfermline

Published on Saturday 5 December 2009 20:51

Stevenson 52

AYR stepped up their survival bid and ended Dunfermline's unbeaten run with this battling win.

The Pars were aiming to make it nine games without defeat but Ryan Stevenson's second half strike gave the Honest Men a deserved win.

United went into this clash as underdogs but showed no sense of inferiority in forcing the first chance when Ryan Borris' shot, heading for the bottom right-hand corner, was blocked by Greg Ross.

However, the Pars looked dangerous on the break and might have done better when Steven McDougall's slick diagonal pass released David Graham.

However, the winger sent his cross wastefully over the bar.

At the other end Dunfermline got in a muddle and Alex Burke breathed a sigh of relief when Borris seized on his poor clearance only to curl a shot wide.

There was no reprieve for the Pars on the restart as United surged ahead with a well-worked goal.

Ryan McGowan was the architect with a probing run and cross when Stevenson met with a precision finish low into the net from 16 yards.

Dunfermline, with their unbeaten run under threat, looked rattled

and Jim McIntyre, the division's manager of the month, committed all three substitutes in a bid to salvage something.

However, the closest they came was through an Andy Kirk shot which was deflected for a corner.