Ayr claim upper hand in play-off clash with Partick Thistle

Ayr will take a slender advantage into the second leg of the Premiership play-off quarter-final after a 1-0 victory over Partick Thistle at Firhill.

Jamie Murphy headed home the only goal of the game 10 minutes into the second half to hand Scott Brown’s side the initiative ahead of Friday’s return fixture.

A cagey encounter littered with stoppages rarely sparked into life. Brian Graham passed up a trio of chances for the hosts but Josh Clarke in the Ayr goal was rarely tested.

The Jags were without Sean Kelly, who will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in their 1-0 victory over Livingston.

There were six changes for the Honest Men, the most notable of which being an injury to George Stanger forcing Brown to rotate his backline.

Ayr were dealt a further early blow when Nick McAllister had to be substituted in the 10th minute.

McAllister suffered a nasty looking head knock inside the opening 10 seconds, before colliding with Robbie Crawford shortly after.

It took until the 15th minute for the first chance of note — Marco Rus’ tame shot was comfortably held by home keeper David Mitchell.

On the half-hour mark, Thistle’s captain and joint interim manager Graham brought a fantastic stop from Clarke after connecting with Aidan Fitzpatrick’s pin-point cross.

There were strong claims for a penalty two minutes later as Crawford hit the deck inside the box, though referee David Dickinson was unmoved.

Graham passed up another good chance just before half-time, glancing Crawford’s free-kick narrowly wide of the target.

At the other end, George Oakley fired into the side-netting on the stretch after latching on to Rus’ through pass.

The visitors broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. Connor McLennan’s tantalising cross was met at the front post by Murphy, who steered his header beyond Mitchell.

The Firhill crowd were doing everything they could to drive their team back into the match. However, it was the away side that continued to pose the greater threat.

McLennan’s fizzing strike flew inches wide of the target with the Jags keeper scrambling.

A cynical challenge by O’Reilly on Dylan Watret saw him become the fifth Thistle player to go into the referee’s book.

With five minutes remaining, there was more frustration for the home supporters after Steven Lawless was unable to pick out a team-mate after a positive burst forward.

Six minutes of additional time brought some hope of a late leveller for Thistle.

It almost arrived in the 91st minute when Graham’s header from O’Reilly’s delivery drifted inches past the post — the final opportunity of a frustrating evening for the home side.