St Mirren 5 - 1 Ayr United: St Mirren’s early goal burst suffocates Ayr

ST MIRREN cruised through to the third round of the Scottish Communities League Cup with a comfortable win over Ayr United.

Scorers: St Mirren - Guy (16), Thompson (24), McGowan (30), McLean (38, pen), Teale (58); Ayr United - Moffat (39)

Attendance: 2,306

Lewis Guy raced on to Paul McGowan’s slide-rule pass to open the scoring after 16 minutes and Steven Thompson doubled the hosts’ lead on the half-hour mark.

A wonderful individual effort from McGowan stretched the Paisley side’s advantage to three before Kenny McLean added a fourth from the penalty spot.

The visitors pulled one back through Michael Moffat six minutes before the break but the Clydesdale Bank Premier League side added a fifth through Gary Teale in the second half.

The hosts made a bright start and dominated possession during the opening five minutes of the match. The first chance came after seven minutes and fell to Thompson.

The striker linked with Jim Goodwin before flashing a powerful effort at goal which Brown in the Ayr goal was forced to parry round the post.

Ayr were forced into an early change when Martyn Campbell hobbled off to be replaced by Marc Twaddle, and from the moment Guy latched on to a cleared corner to score the opener in the 16th minute, to Teale’s low effort for the Buddies’ fifth in the 58th minute, there was only one side looking likely to progress.

St Mirren: Samson, McAusland, Mair, Barron, Teale, McLean, Goodwin, McGowan, Carey, Thompson, Guy. Subs: Chris Smith, Parkin, van Zanten, Robertson, Imrie.

Ayr: Alistair Brown, Hunter, Martyn Campbell, Brownlie, McCann, McGowan, Sinclair, Crawford, Marenghi, Moffat, Winters. Subs: Darren Martin, Roberts, Ross Robertson, Shankland, Twaddle.

Referee: M Tumilty.