Ayr United 1-3 Inverness CT: White brace puts Caley Thistle in control

Inverness Caley Thistle striker Jordan White clips the ball over Ayr keeper Ross Doohan to score his first goal of the game. Picture: SNS

Charlie Trafford’s bullet header from a Joe Chalmers cross after 33 minutes gave Inverness Caledonian Thistle the early initiative in a frantic first leg of the Premiership play-off quarter-final at Somerset Park last night.

Jordan White then ignored offside claims early in the second half to clip the ball over Ross Doohan as the Ayr defence waited in vain for a flag that never arrived.

Michael Rose brought the home team back with a majestic header but Caley put themselves firmly in the driving seat when White scored his second of the night from the penalty spot with 14 minutes to go.

Curiously, both teams have enjoyed their best form on the road during the regular season and Ayr’s 28 points on their travels as opposed to 26 on home soil will give them grounds for optimism in the return leg at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday that this tie is not yet decided.

Inverness, with ten points out of 12 against Ayr this term, rightly started as favourites.

The Highlanders were able to restore skipper Aaron Doran, Jamie McCart and Liam Polworth who were all spared starting roles in the weekend 1-0 victory over Dunfermline which allowed them to leapfrog Ayr into a third place and, with it, earn an extra £75,000 in prize money.

Declan McDaid called visiting keeper Mark Ridgers into early action with a cross into the box which the keeper smothered at his near post. The visitors passed up a golden chance after 17 minutes when White’s head flick released Chalmers but he sliced his shot over.

Ayr’s swift reply was an inviting driven cross from Danny Harvie which was just too high for the lurking Michael Moffat. Harvie was then busy at the other end when he was in the right place at the right time to block a Tom Walsh shot at the expense of a corner.

Despite Ayr’s early endeavours it was Inverness who took the lead after 33 minutes when Trafford rose to power in a header from a right wing corner delivered by Chalmers.

McDaid was wasteful when he fired wildly over from a good position as Ayr tried to get back on level terms but they suffered again two minutes before the interval when Robbie Crawford was booked in a challenge which left him hirpling.

Inverness were firmly in the ascendancy when they stretched their lead on 51 minutes. The Ayr defence switched off waiting for an offside verdict that never came and White kept going to deftly lift the ball over Doohan.

Luke McCowan came on after an hour in place of the tiring Moffat. Straight away he made an impact with a shot that Brad McKay was relieved to divert clear. The 19-year-old then touched a free-kick to Lawrence Shankland who hit a rocket from 22 yards which Ridgers pushed over.

The resulting corner after 65 minutes was to prove decisive as Rose leapt forward to thunder home a header from McCowan’s perfect cross.

Ayr’s hopes of a fightback were extinguished with 14 minutes to go when Kerr was booked for a shove on Polworth. Alan Muir pointed to the spot and White lashed the ball into the top corner.