The Ayrshire Derby is a fixture that can often get lost amongst the other high profile rivalries of Scottish Football, i.e. The Old Firm of Celtic v Rangers, Hearts v Hibs of Edinburgh, and Dundee v Dundee United - where both stadiums are on the same street.
Having been to the previous Ayrshire Derby at Ayr United's Somerset Park - where Kilmarnock would defeat The Honest Men 1-0, thanks to Oli Shaw's last minute penalty. With the passion from both sets of supporters that night, I had a high level of expectancy for the fixture at Rugby Park.
Coming into the fixture, both Kilmarnock and Ayr United were looking for the win - for reasons other than it being a derby match. Killie had just come off a 1-0 defeat to league leaders, Arbroath, which would see them drop four points behind their Championship rivals. As for Ayr United, they were sitting in the relegation playoff spot, only four points ahead of Queen of the South, who had a game in hand.
After only seven short minutes, Chris Burke's pass picked out an unmarked Fraser Murray to open the scoring and put Kilmarnock ahead with a well taken goal.
The early goal set the pace for the rest of the match, with Kilmarnock only being able to hold the lead for a further seven minutes. James Maxwell equalised for the visitors, making the most of Kilmarnock failing to clear a corner.
With the game sitting at 1-1, both sets of players were fired up - giving referee Bobby Madden the task of keeping a lid on the game. Appeals for a red card were waved away when Killie's Kyle Lafferty went down with an apparent headbutt by Aaron Muirhead.
Kilmarnock had the opportunity to take the lead at the half-hour mark, but Ayr United goalkeeper, Aidan McAdams pulling off two great saves to keep his side in the match.
A somewhat ambitious overhead kick by Kyle Lafferty from 18-yards would go sailing over the bar, and close the action for the first half.
The second half started in the same frantic manner of the first half, with Lafferty hitting the post on the 53rd minute. After that, it was way traffic and Ayr United were firmly in control of the wheel.
Ayr United striker Tomi Adeloye came on with 25 minutes go, completely changing the dynamic with his creativity and coming agonisingly close with two efforts.
Ayr United had to wait until the 79th minute for them to finally get the breakthrough. Patrick Reading saw his effort from 18-yards reach the far corner and hit the back of the net, putting the visitors 2-1 ahead.
Sub Adeloye had a further two opportunities to increase the lead as United continued to pile of the pressure.
The game ended 2-1 to Ayr United, which would see The Honest Men join the celebrations with the travelling support.
A fantastic game of football that was fast paced, fiery and frantic, matched by the passion of the supporters. The Ayrshire Derby is a must for any footballing fan.
After the game had ended, one supporter sadly didn't make it home after suffering a cardiac arrest and passing away outside the ground. My thoughts are with his family. No one should ever go to a football game and not return.
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