A second half strike by Paul Cairney was enough to give Ayr United all three points against Queen of the South at Somerset Park.
The first half was a tame affair with little for the 1,842 fans to get excited about.
Queen's looked the most threatening but could not find an opening.
And Cairney found the only goal of the game, picking up the ball on the edge of the box and rifling a low shot into the back of the net.
The first real piece of action was for the visitors and their front man Stephen Dobbie. He won the ball from Peter Murphy, but he dragged his shot wide of the target.
Minutes later Mark Millar tried his luck for Queens, but his shot was saved by the legs of Greg Fleming in the Ayr goal.
The next clear cut chance came just before the half time whistle. Jordan Marshall slipped away from his marker, he whipped in a great ball from the left, but Dobbie couldn't get his head to it.
The breakthrough came in the second half with Cairney's goal, and Ayr could have doubled their lead through Gary Harkins.
The striker had time, but failed to get the shot on target and launched the ball over the bar.
Ayr United move up to sixth spot in the Championship, with Queens now down to third after their second defeat in a row.
Ayr
- 1Fleming
- 2Devlin
- 6Murphy
- 22Balatoni
- 18MeggattBooked at 55mins
- 4Gilmour
- 8CrawfordSubstituted forNisbetat 45'minutes
- 23Docherty
- 14CairneyBooked at 70minsSubstituted forAdamsat 75'minutes
- 12Harkins
- 10ForrestSubstituted forDonaldat 64'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Boyle
- 11Donald
- 15O'Connell
- 16Adams
- 17Nisbet
- 19Hart
- 21McGuffie
Queen of Sth
- 1Robinson
- 5Brownlie
- 6Higgins
- 4Dowie
- 3MarshallBooked at 84mins
- 35BrotherstonSubstituted forRiggat 71'minutes
- 14Jacobs
- 8Millar
- 17PickardSubstituted forAndersonat 63'minutes
- 11Dobbie
- 25Dykes
Substitutes
- 7Anderson
- 12Rigg
- 19Moxon
- 21Leighfield
- 31Nelson
- 32Fergusson
