Renfrew go top after keeper sees red
Renfrew take advantage after Ayr red card at Townhead Park
match report from Kyle Sharkie
Renfrew claimed a 3-0 win over Ayr United at Townhead Park in the final game before the split to go to top of the Barclays Scottish Women’s Championship table, on a bleak and windy afternoon in Cumnock.
With rain, hail and strong winds making conditions difficult, both sides started brightly and looked to get on the front foot early. Renfrew threatened first from a dangerous free kick, with a header drifting just wide, while Ayr responded with a few promising moments of their own and some good attacking play in spells.
The breakthrough came in the 25th minute when Renfrew took the lead through Louise Cameron, who finished cleverly after a dangerous whipped ball into the box from Lauren McBlain.
Just a minute later, the match turned decisively in Renfrew’s favour. Ayr goalkeeper Alesha Murray was shown a red card for a handball outside the box, forcing Rachel Scott the number 9 to step in as an emergency goalkeeper with Ayr reduced to 10 players.
Despite the setback, Ayr continued to battle well and refused to let the game get away from them before half-time. Renfrew did come close to extending their lead, even striking the bar late in the first half, but Ayr remained just one behind at the break.
Renfrew continued to press after the restart and eventually doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Paige Henry capitalised on a goalkeeping error and chipped home.
Ayr kept fighting, with some strong defending and several important saves from Scott, but Renfrew sealed the result in the 80th minute when Henry struck again with an excellent long-range effort to make it 3-0.
While Renfrew were deserved winners, Ayr showed real resilience and spirit after playing the majority of the match with 10 players and can take pride in their performance.
Ayr united manager David Ramsey said:
“From the first minute we asked them to go out with a gameplan, and they followed that game plan. I was really pleased with some of the football we were playing, even more so when we went down. Mistakes are going to happen in football it’s your reactions to it, its how you get up and keep going again. The fact we are in the top six, I’m really proud of this group. I can’t ask more of this group”
Renfrew coach Connor Walsh said:
“The focus today wasn’t on being top of the league, the focus today was on getting three points and that’s what we’ve come away with. At the start of the season we were three loses out of three and now we’re sitting top of the league so it’s brilliant. We’ve got five ‘cup finals’ to come now after the split and we take it as one game at a time. It’s about keeping that momentum going, it’s five massive games and we’ll see where we are at the end of it.”
Goalscorers:
Louise Cameron, Paige Henry (2)
Kyle was reporting thanks to a link up with the Scottish Football Union
