SHIRE 2 AYR UNITED 1

If Carlsberg did Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected they would probably look something like this.

And any Shire fan who nipped out five minutes early to get the round up at the Plough still probably wouldn't believe what happened next.

Luckily, those who did stick it out saw perhaps the best last five minutes to a Shire game since the not to be forgotten day at Arbroath in 1992 when the team came back from 4-2 down, with eight minutes to go, to win 5-4.

Trailing to an Alex Williams header after 15 minutes, Shire perhaps were not as dead and buried as they seemed that day at Gayfield. But the prospect of finding an equaliser seemed a bit remote.

Then, with 86 minutes gone, Dean Richardson broke through a midfield tackle, took three paces out of the centre circle and launched an unstoppable shot off the underside of the crossbar and past the bemused Stephen Grindlay in the Ayr United goal.

But, if you expected Shire to be satisfied with the prospect of an extra 30 minutes on a baking hot day on a plastic pitch, you would have been wrong.

There was barely a minute left on the clock when Derek Ure fed substitute Brian Graham down the right. His clever flick pass inside opened up the space perfectly for Andy Rodgers to get a sniff of goal and the Shire striker did not waste the chance, planting the ball low into the far corner well out of Grindlay's reach.

The sun shone on Shire's home debut at Ochilview, with the mid-afternoon temperature somewhere around the 25 celsius mark.

Shire's new all-black strip probably wasn't the most sensible of outfits for such a hot day but the team did their level best to combat such energy-sapping conditions.

With Craig Tully suspended and David King ruled out with a hamstring problem, coach Jim McInally had to re-jig is defence and ended up with a back three of Michael Bolochoweckyj, David Nicholls and Stephen Oates.

In midfield, Craig Donaldson was left out with Derek Ure in an unfamiliar role wide on the right, Sean Anderson on the other flank. Richardson, Jimmy Gibson and David Dunn filled out the rest of the places.

Up front the still largely untried pairing was Colin Cramb and Andy Rodgers.

The first quarter hour was very reminiscent of the pre-season sparring that we have seen so much of of late, but Ayr still managed to find the back of the net with their first attack.

Chris Aitken's cross from the right was flicked on at the near post by Brian Prunty and Williams, all on his own at the back post, dived forward to head the loose ball into the net.

After 25 minutes the impressive Ryan Stevenson played Prunty in, he beat Nicholls to the ball but sent his shot wide. Five minutes later Prunty turned provider for Ryan Boris but John Hillcoat made a fine save.

On 31 minutes Shire managed hteir first effort of note, although Rodgers' header from David Dunn's cross drifted over the crossbar. Two minutes later Anderson played Cramb clear in the box but his effort was blocked by Willie Easton for a corner.

After 37 minutes Jimmy Gibson fell awkwardly on the pitch and had to be helped off. He was immediately replaced by Donaldson.

Ayr still piled forward looking for the killer goal but Hillcoat was in fine form, looking smart to save dangerous efforts from Prunty and Stevenson.

In injury time there was controversy when Cramb was pushed to the ground inside the box by Easton but referee Muir chose to ignore the strong Shire appeals for a penalty.

After the break Shire re-organised into a 4-4-2 but, at least initially, it made little difference in stemming the Ayr attacks. Hillcoat was lucky after 55 minutes when the defence hacked the ball clear after he failed to hold a shot from  Aitken.

Five minutes after that Oates couldn't cut out Stevenson's cross and Prunty shaved the top of the crossbar with his half-volley.

On 64 minutes Nicholls' corner was half cleared as far as Rodgers but his effort went narrowly wide of the Ayr United goal, then substitute Brian Graham, on for Cramb, flashed a dangerous ball across goal but no-one was on hand for the tap-in.

Aitken then forced Hillcoat into two great stops before Shire responded with efforts from Rodgers and substitute, Marc McKenzie. Stevenson then had the ball in the Shire net but he was offside.

The Shire keeper was getting busier, punching clear while under pressure from Prunty then making a miraculous stop from Aitken after the midfielder's mazy run into the box.

At that point it seemed a second Ayr goal was on the cards, but Shire had different ideas.

SHIRE : Hillcoat, Ure, Richardson, Oates, Bolochoweckyj, Nicholls, Dunn(McKenzie 62), Gibson(Donaldson 37), Cramb(Graham 62), Rodgers, Anderson.

AYR UNITED : Grindlay, Dempsie, Easton, S.Walker, Campbell. Stevenson, Boris, Aitken, Prunty, Williams(Agnew 49), Keenan.

REFEREE ; Alan Muir.

ATTENDANCE : 761.