Match Report - By Keith Johnston

Brechin went into today’s game with eleven matches without defeat behind them. Visitors Ayr were unbeaten in four, which while not as impressive as Brechin’s run still meant that City couldn’t afford to take their opponents lightly. A familiar face in the Ayr line-up was Scott McCulloch who left Glebe Park earlier in the season.

Brechin got off to an ideal start with a goal in the first minute. Steve Hampshire had a cross blocked at the expense of a corner. Kevin Byers took it and found Scott Walker whose header went in off the underside of the bar.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic in the early stages though as Ayr had a couple of efforts on target that were easily dealt with by their ex goalkeeper Craig Nelson. Marc Smyth’s on the quarter hour mark was one particular instance.
City responded with a long range drive by Steve Hamilton that went inches over the bar, although in fairness keeper Peter Cherrie appeared have it well covered.
Two minutes later, Brechin added a second goal. Kevin Byers flicked the ball over the advancing defender, Chris Templeman latched onto the pass beating Cherrie to the ball, taking it round him and slotting into the empty net.
Brechin continued to press forward and to be fair absolutely destroyed Ayr with some superb football and additional goals.
The warning signs were there for the Honest Men when a long throw by Hamilton in the 25th minute was flicked on by Walker for Templeman but despite being at full stretch the big striker was unable to get the vital touch that would have certainly made it three.
But City didn’t have long to wait for their third goal. First Chris Templeman played a wall pass with Steve Hampshire and had a good low shot that Cherie did well to divert wide. But from the corner Byers found David White at the far post and he was able to comfortably head the ball into the corner of the net.
Having set up all of the first three goals, Kevin Byers was again at the heart of the action in the 37th minute when he found Steve Hampshire with a through ball. Hamps got the better of the defender, but Cherrie was on hand to save.
The first half destruction wasn’t complete yet though, and Brechin made it 4-0 just before the interval. Steve Hamilton’s long throw found Chris Templeman in the box with his back to goal. “Sanny” brought the ball under control, turned and fired it in for his second of the afternoon and 18th of the season.

Ayr must have gone back into the dressing room at half time wondering what they had done to deserve this, but things got even worse early in the second half when they conceded yet again. Chris Templeman was fouled on the left, Kevin Byers was again the set-piece taker, finding Scott Walker who had timed his run to perfection and had the simple task of making it 5-0. Good play by Brechin, but you have to ask questions of the visiting defence because if you count the long throw for Templeman’s second goal, four of Brechin’s five goals had come from set pieces.
Ayr responded two minutes later with a rasping drive from distance by Marc Smyth that smashed off the underside of the bar and fell to safety. A let-off for Brechin, but you had to feel sorry for the visitors because when something like that happens and you are already 5-0 down, it is pretty clear that it is not going to be your day.
Another thing you don’t want to happen when 5-0 down to Brechin is to see the introduction of a fresh Charlie King to the fray. He almost set up a sixth in the 66th minute with a brilliant run to leave Lyle and McLaughlin for dead, finding Templeman whose shot was charged down.
A few minutes later at the other end, a rare mistake by Craig Nelson almost led to a consolation goal. Substitute Gilmour’s low cross was spilt by the keeper, but Scott Walker was on hand to beat Stewart Kean to the rebound and clear the danger.
From then on it was pretty much a case of counting down to the final whistle and seeing whether Brechin could add to their tally.
Somehow they failed to make it six with five minutes remaining after a superb piece of football. First Paul Ritchie’s low cross across goal for Templeman was just too far in front of City’s top scorer. Then Steve Hampshire collected the loose ball, playing a one-two with Byers and picking out the sliding Ritchie at the far post. Unlike Templeman, Ritchie was able to make contact with the ball, but not a good contact and the effort went wide.
Late on Ritchie had a couple of shots on target that were saved by Cherrie, but it wasn’t to be his afternoon, having earlier been denied a great goalscoring opportunity by a poor offside decision.

All in all, a great afternoon’s work for Brechin. Even a fluorescent Colin Hardie couldn’t outperform Dick Campbell’s men this afternoon. Ayr probably didn’t do themselves justice, having been on a decent run of late and you certainly can’t afford to be as poor as they were at defending set-pieces at this level. Brechin’s man-of-the-match was Kevin Byers who had a hand in four of the five goals and put in an outstanding all-round performance.

Next week, it is back to Scottish Cup business for City as Stirling Albion will be the visitors to Glebe Park on Saturday. They had a good result today against Dumbarton and City definitely won’t have it this easy against Alan Moore’s side.

Other Results - Bell's League Division 2

Arbroath 1 Berwick Rangers 1

A share of the spoils for two of the division's struggling sides.

Morton 2 Alloa Athletic 2

Morton drop another two points as Alloa snatch an equaliser in the last 10 minutes.

Stirling Albion 1 Dumbarton 0

Stirling warm up for next week's cup tie at Brechin with a victory over Dumbarton.

Stranraer 1 Forfar Athletic 0

Managerless Forfar go down to a David Graham goal against league leaders Stranraer.