Ayr United 4-1 Elgin City AET: Somerset Park team need extra time to advance
- Published
Kane Hester's first-half goal threatened a cup shock for the League 2 side
Ayr United left it late to eventually see off Elgin City and advance into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
Kane Hester gave the visitors a shock lead just before the break as they aimed to reach the last eight for the second time.
Fraser Bryden scrambled in a last-gasp equaliser to force extra time, before Ben Dempsey and Dipo Akinyemi added three more between them.
The draw for the next round takes place on Monday.
Ayr United, fraught with nerves, did well to eventually overcome heroic Elgin, whose lead four minutes from half-time stunned Somerset Park.
And they held on to it - and threatened to extend it - until Bryden poked home an equaliser from point-blank range with just a minute of normal time remaining.
Relief for United, and the nerves were further soothed when Dempsey scored an extra time penalty after Akinyemi was brought down in the box.
It deflated Elgin and Akinyemi made it 3-1 with a calm finish. He then added his second - Ayr's fourth - to tot up a score line which was very sore on the Highland team.
Player of the match - Kane Hester (Elgin City)
Not just for his goal, but all round centre forward play was excellent from the Elgin City man
What they said
Ayr United manager Lee Bullen: "I think we were about two minutes away from what we would regard as an embarrassing defeat, but the boys stuck at it and got the break when we needed it. Elgin deserve a lot of credit. You see the clock ticking down - we got a bit of luck. All the pressure was on us."
Elgin City manager Gavin Price: "I couldn't be prouder of the players. We didn't want to be the nearly team. We were confident we could do it. The players gave everything. It's heart-breaking for them. It's a cruel game. I thought we created the better chances in the second half. We limited Ayr to very few clear-cut chances."