Ayr United have been existing down among the bottom-feeders of the Scottish Championship for so long this season you half expect the shirts of the players to have deep sea coral on them.
In the perilous waters that they inhabit, though, Ian McCall’s resilient troops continue to paddle to safety. And if we get any more dodgy maritime musings into this piece, the Coastguard might have to be scrambled to save it from drowning in its own clichés.
It was Greg Fleming who came to Ayr’s rescue on Saturday as his instinctive heroics between the sticks safeguarded a precious three points amid a late flurry which saw a spirited, 10-man Dumbarton try their best to salvage something.
Having turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage either side of half-time, Ayr’s position of authority was strengthened when Dumbarton substitute Garry Fleming, who had been on the pitch for only six minutes, was ordered off it for a teeth-shuddering challenge on Ross Docherty.
Instead of pressing home the numerical advantage, though, Ayr found themselves clinging on at times and it was Fleming who earned his salt with two decisive blocks. Robert Thomson and Gregor Buchanan were left holding their heads in gasping disbelief as Fleming flung himself here and there to deny both from close range.
“I was just doing my job,” said the modest Ayr custodian, who certainly put in a good shift at the office.
Having moved four points clear of bottom-of-the-table St Mirren while hoisting themselves level with Dumbarton, Ayr have a chance to move out of the relegation play-off place tomorrow night with a game-in-hand against Dundee United.
While the Tannadice side have stuttered in the league of late to slip down to fourth place, they will have been given a much-needed shot in the arm thanks to their victory in the Irn Bru Cup. Then again? “Maybe they’ll have a bit of a cup hangover,” suggested Fleming with a smile.
Ayr will travel to Tayside with plenty of purpose and a good dose of confidence. Their recent renaissance has led to them winning three of their last four league matches while they are unbeaten in their last eight away games in the division.
“Every game is a must win for us given our position,” conceded the well-travelled Fleming, whose career journey has included stop offs at Gretna, Oldham Athletic, Galway United, Chesterfield and Grimsby. “This win was massive for us but it’s in the past now and we have to go again on Tuesday.”
In an increasingly tight lower half of the league, Ayr find themselves just five points behind fifth-placed Queen of the South. “If Dumbarton had beaten us they would’ve pulled away," said Fleming. "It’s a very tight league. From fifth downwards, everyone is just scrapping away.”
Whatever happens in the City of Discovery tomorrow night, there won’t be much time to dwell on affairs as Ayr have another huge encounter on Saturday when they travel to St Mirren for the proverbial six-pointer.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here