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Doohan runs into White, foul, free kick Ayr. Doran gets dragged down on edge of the box, no foul. What kind of logic is that?

I think whilst we were on the end of some pretty debatable calls from the referee, Ayr were the better team throughout the 90 minutes and deserved the win. Kerr seemed to set Ayr up a bit more defensively than previous match ups and they let us carry the ball forward with little pressure but we were swarmed as we entered the Ayr half and forced to thread balls through a well organised Ayr midfield and defence (which we couldn't do) or try and dink a ball up to White and later Todorov (which we also couldn't do). When Ayr seized the ball they broke with real pace and direction quickly feeding the ball wide to Forrest or Moffat on the flanks or looking to play a pass in behind the ICT centre backs and a lot of their good chances game from this. Only a triple block / save combination from McHattie and Ridgers stopped Ayr opening the scoring in the first half which saw wave after wave of attacks threaten the ICT rearguard. Fortunately we held them off and had the ball in the net when Keatings lifted a free kick in for White who beat Doohan to the ball and flicked it in but the referee gave a free kick for a foul by White. Seemed pretty soft but it would have been hard on Ayr had we gone ahead (though thoroughly pleasing obviously). Second half and there seemed to be a strong claim for a penalty when Doran broke into the box and looked like he was pushed in the back sending him to the ground but the referee waved play on. Not long after this Ayr scored. I didn't see what happened but after I had stopped admiring my new trainers I looked up to see Trafford on his arse and Kelly seizing on a loose ball, heading for goal before calmly slotting past Ridgers. No more than Ayr deserved in fairness but frustrating nonetheless from an ICT point of view. Ayr had more chances after this to extend their lead before Doran went down under another challenge however this time he got straight back up to chase the ball before Aitken blew for a foul and cautioned Doran for diving which seemed a bit odd given he didn't seem to be looking for anything. We went with 2 strikers for the final few minutes with Todorov coming on to partner White but we didn't really create anything of note until the final kick of the game when Ayr threw bodies to block a couple of ICT efforts from close range (these might even have been our only shots on target...). Bizarre to see us end the game with a couple of big lads up front and our two best crossers of the ball on the wings yet we persevered with little dinked balls up towards White and Todorov which almost never found them. Any ICT fan not bothered about losing Donaldson AND McCart should be worried after today's defensive showing. Whilst McHattie was solid enough Mckay with the ball at his feet was an absolute bombscare. Vincent was decent for us, possibly closest to ICT MotM. Kerr and Moffat looked good for Ayr and Drinan really gave Mckay and McHattie a torrid time. We have a real battle on to maintain second spot which could be huge come the end of the season...

Why would the ref be giving thumbs up to the Directors box at Ayr at end of game today ?I would be interested to know the reason .....Also is it protocol for your manager to shake hands with opposite team and ignore his own .As happens invariably in our case .

Doesn't have a lot to do with our transfer window, but Deano Brill has retired and is now the goalkeeping coach at Leyton Orient. Can't forget his heroics in the League Cup Semis against Hearts to get us our first major finals...

When you're alone and the forum is making posters lonely You can always do - downtime When you've got flurries, all the noise and the slurry Seems to help, I know you do - downtime Just listen to the whingeing of the vultures in the city Linger on the keyboard where the server signs aint pretty You can only lose But the mods are much brighter here We can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares So do downtime, things'll be great when you do Downtime - sore finger state, for sure Downtown - everybody's waiting for you Cheers to Scotty, Don and company

Great report as usual RIG..........but we need to know more about your new trainers

Be a tough game. Ayr coming off the back of two good results recently. If Caley defend well they have the ability to hurt them. The proverbial six pointer. If they could win today it would set the tone for the coming challenges.