Ayr United held to Partick Thistle point as top scorer Anton Dowds hobbles off with injury
Ayr United were held to a point by Partick Thistle on an afternoon soured by concerns over injury to top scorer Anton Dowds.
The talismanic striker had earlier taken his tally to nine goals in 11 games when firing The Honest Men into a first half lead from the penalty spot.
But August's Championship Player of the Month hobbled out of Somerset after a knee injury sustained in the second half.
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Boss Scott Brown admits it's now a waiting game to hope the injury wasn't as bad as first looked - but insists his men fell short of the standard required on an afternoon where they failed to hit the heights of their fast start to the season.
He said: "Did we look like we were going to win the game? Probably not. So we'll take the point but we should still be better than we were. We need to control games and we didn't do that today.
"We had injuries but they are part and parcel of the game and we have a squad to deal with that. It was important not to lose the game when we weren't at our best today. You come away with a point and at the end of the day the lads have dug in deep and got something."
Jack McIntyre made his debut between the sticks with Harry Stone missing the game entirely due to a thigh strain. Midfielder Marco Rus also missed out with an injury picked up last week, although Brown stressed he was hopeful that the absence was just a "precaution."
Thistle flew from the traps and Ben Stanway drew a brilliant stop from McIntyre in the opening moments. But Ayr hit the front when former United defender Aaron Muirhead was penalised for handball - only for keeper Myles Roberts to save the penalty from Dowds.
But ref Ross Hardie hauled the play back to give Ayr another crack after Roberts was adjudged to have strayed off his line. And Dowds made no mistake when burying the second attempt.
Thistle had loud appeals for a penalty of their own turned down when Paddy Reading charged down a shot.
Dowds went close to doubling the lead shortly after half time with a low effort which Roberts saved well.
United then suffered a double injury blow as Dowds hobbled off with a knee injury following an awkward landing.
And moments later, his replacement Jamie Murphy was also limping off as Ayr were left to patch up for the final 20 minutes.
But they were rocked soon after as Thistle got the leveller when Harry Milne rose to head home from six yards out. Sub Jake Hastie almost won it for Ayr late on with a long range strike which Roberts tipped over the top.
Thistle boss Kris Doolan said: "I can’t understand why it’s a penalty kick. I’ve seen it back and it’s a shocking decision.
“We’ve all just been to a meeting with the referees about what is a penalty and what is considered. His arm is nowhere near it and it hits across his chest first. Then they got a second one! And I've seen that too and it's been said he's miles off his line. He's not. It’s these kind of decisions that games hinge on. We could’ve lost a game on that."