Kilmarnock v Ayr United: Four memorable derby meetings

Kilmarnock and Ayr United will meet in a league match for the first time in 28 years when they kick off in their Scottish Championship opener at Rugby Park on Monday.

However, the local rivals have gone head-to-head in Scotland's domestic cup competitions on 10 occasions since 1993.

Here, BBC Scotland looks back on some of the more memorable of those encounters.

Ayr cause a stir in 2017

Two divisions separated the Ayrshire sides when they were drawn in the same League Cup group in 2017.

Kilmarnock were still some months away from Steve Clarke's revolution, but Lee McCulloch's side had finished the previous season comfortably above the Premiership relegation zone.

Ayr, on the other hand, had just been demoted from the Championship but triumphed at Somerset Park through Andy Geggan's first-half goal.

Kilmarnock win derby en route to 2012 glory

The first of 2012's League Cup semi-finals was hardly a classic and, after a goalless and scrappy 90 minutes, extra-time ensued and it was a case of who would blink first.

Dean Shiels made the difference for Kilmarnock in the end, scoring the only goal at Hampden and sending his father Kenny's side through to the final, which they would also win 1-0, against favourites Celtic.

Eight goals in thrilling 2009 tie

The 2009 Scottish Cup tie was full of incident. The first game ended 2-2 at Somerset Park, with Ayr's Alex Williams forcing a replay with a late goal.

In the second match, Bryan Prunty put Ayr in front despite an apparent handball, forcing Kilmarnock to fight back. Simon Ford scored a double and the hosts also had to contend with David Fernandez's red card but won through in the end.

Ayr feel the love in 1998

The 1998 Ayrshire derby on Valentine's Day was a closely contested Scottish Cup tie that was not decided until late in the game.

Jim Dick and Ian Ferguson scored in the final seven minutes to secure Gordon Dalziel's side a passage to the quarter-finals.

There, they would be beaten by eventual winners Hearts, but this was the second of four successive cup wins over Kilmarnock as Ayr fans enjoyed a prolonged period of bragging rights.

Nine-goal thriller in the offing like 1880?

The first recorded meeting of Kilmarnock and Ayr was a Scottish Cup second-round match in 1880. Nine goals were scored in all, with Killie winning 6-3.

It would be 1914 before Ayr beat their local rivals and there was a 4-4 league draw in the derby in season 1947-48.

There's usually goals when these two meet, but spare a thought for fans that watched all three encounters in 1984-85 and witness just the one goal.