Ayr Utd 0-5 Partick Thistle (agg 0-8): Visitors cruise into Premiership play-off final
- Published
Scott Tiffoney celebrates his second goal at Somerset Park
Partick Thistle are through to the Premiership play-off final after brushing aside 10-man Ayr United at a packed Somerset Park.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg, the visitors added five more goals, Jack McMillan striking early and Scott Tiffoney doubling their lead moments after Dipo Akinyemi was sent off for an angry shove.
In the second half, McMillan set up Tiffoney's second, Stevie Lawless drilled home and Kevin Holt added a late header in a one-sided contest.
Thistle, who also hit eight against Queen's Park in the quarter-final, are the first team to make the final after finishing fourth in the Championship.
The first leg is at Firhill on Thursday and the Jags' scintillating form will have their top-flight opponents very concerned.
Ross County and Kilmarnock, who meet at Rugby Park on Sunday, are battling to avoid 11th spot, while there is a remote chance of Dundee United hauling themselves off the bottom.
A bumper crowd turned out, with the home faithful hoping for something special, but that bubble was burst on seven minutes when McMillan headed in after an Aidan Fitzpatrick shot was stopped by goalkeeper Charlie Albinson.
And the hosts' slim hopes evaporated when top-scorer Akinyemi was dismissed for reacting to being held by Aaron Muirhead, with the defender making the most of it with a dramatic fall.
Thistle soon doubled their lead on the counter-attack, Tiffoney converting from Fitzpatrick's low cross.
Tiffoney added another goal in the 54th minute, poking in a McMillan delivery from six yards.
Lawless cracked in a neat reverse finish after Albinson had palmed away Holt's cross and the defender got the better of the keeper from a corner to complete the scoring.
'When you're winning, your legs don't feel tired'
Ayr top-scorer Akinyemi was dismissed for a first-half shove on Aaron Muirhead
Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan: "I think it's a statement of the way we want to play, of how good we can be and what's coming.
"That's how we've approached every game, we've not sat back. We've come into the play-offs strong and we'll get strong as the games go on.
"When you score goals, you feel great. When you're winning games, your legs don't feel as tired.
"Winning breeds winning. We've set up a winning environment. Even in training, our boys compete like that."
Ayr United boss Lee Bullen: "Partick Thistle were excellent over the two games and deserve to go through. I wish them the very best.
"From our point of view, it's very, very sore. We lost the early goal, but the red card gave us an impossible task. I never really got to see it and I haven't seen it back yet, so I'm going to hold my council on that until I do see it.
"We're hurting so badly. In the summer we might be able to sit back and appreciate the highs but, at the moment, it feels like a failure and like we've let people down."