Friendlies round-up: Roberts on target as Ayr hold Coyle’s strong Bolton side to a draw

Published on 19/07/2012 00:00

Owen Coyle listed a strong Bolton Wanderers line-up in the opening match of their Scottish Tour against Ayr United, however his side had to settle for a 1-1 draw as the Honest Men’s player/ manager, and Coyle’s former Airdrie team-mate, Mark Roberts netted a leveller.

The hosts survived an early scare when Chris Eagles went down in the box, however referee John Beaton waved away their appeals with Ayr then going on to enjoy a fine spell.

Michael Moffat forced Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan to save with his legs after 18 minutes and Zat Knight then kept out a certain goal 7 minutes later as he cleared Ross Robertson’s shot after it had eluded Bogdan.

Bolton stepped things up and before the break former Celtic target Keith Andrews failed to convert a Lee Chung-Yong cross and one time England striker Kevin Davies missed a good opening.

Former Rangers player Gregg Wylde was one of seven changes made at half-time and he quickly created chances for Mikel Alonso and Darren Pratley, however they were missed. The Ayr goal remained intact until 20 minutes from time when Tom Eaves crossed for Alonso to drill the ball home.

The equaliser came when Roberts was perfectly placed to remind Coyle what he can do when he turned in a Jonathan Tiffoney cross eight minutes later. With Victoria Park out of commission, Clachnacuddin’s Grant Park staged Ross County against Coventry City and a late goal gave the Dingwall men a 1-0 win. The visiting Roy O’Donovan missed the best chance of a goalless first half and it looked like the game would end with a blank score-line until Steven Craig popped up 2 minutes from time to net. The Shinnie brothers were both on target as Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Highland League hosts Deveronvale 6-0 with elder sibling Andrew opening the scoring in the second minute with a 20 yard drive.

It was 2-0 when Shane Sutherland tapped home on 15 minutes and Graeme Shinnie crashed in a shot on the half hour mark before Sutherland scored Caley’s fourth before half-time. Nick Ross and Billy McKay added goals on the resumption to spoil Vale boss Charles Charlesworth first evening in charge of the Banff side.

Livingston defeated Brechin City 3-1 at Spartans’ Ainslie Park with Marc McNulty shooting home the opener after just four minutes before grabbing the second on 21 minutes from the penalty spot after Bobby Barr had been fouled by Gerry McLauchlan.

Barr got on the score-sheet just after the break with a fierce shot from distance before a Brechin trialist grabbed a fine consolation strike.