A fantastic second-half strike from Ayr starlet Dylan Watret consigned Airdrie to another slender defeat despite a committed performance from the Diamonds.

With Lewis McGrattan suspended, Cammy Cooper came in for his first start in an Airdrie shirt, while Dylan MacDonald returned to replace Chris Mochrie who dropped to the bench.

The Diamonds almost had the perfect start when Rhys Armstrong won the ball in midfield, feeding Cooper who played in Ben Wilson with only 20 seconds on the clock, but the striker pulled his shot wide of the post.

Cooper and Wilson almost combined again on seven minutes, the former dispossessing an Ayr midfielder and racing down the wing, but his ball across goal was cut out before it could reach his strike partner.

Armstrong continued Airdrie’s good start with a shot well blocked in the ninth minute and keeper Liam Russell clutching a near-post effort a minute later.

Ayr began to come into the match with striker George Oakley trying to impose his physical presence, but there was no way past Sam Graham as the former Morton man led a 12th-minute counter.

The striker nodded wide four minutes later, and strike partner Connor McLennan headed well over the bar on 19 minutes.

McLennan forced a good flying block with a powerful effort from the edge of the box before Oakley blazed over midway through the first half.

A quieter spell followed, but Airdrie’s afternoon was once again marred by injury as Gavin Gallagher was forced off with an elbow knock.

Airdrie started the second half brightly as they had the first, though MacDonald won’t want to see replays of his 48th-minute strike which cleared the top of the Airdrie Mechanical Stand.

Adam Frizzell and Murray Aiken combined well on 52 minutes, but the ball across goal was just out of reach for Armstrong.

Cooper raced past George Stanger as the pair chased a 54th-minute ball in the box, and as the striker went down his penalty appeals probably fell in the “seen them given” category, but were ignored by referee Grant Irvine.

Watret cleared after some nice footwork by substitute Terrell Agyemang on 56 minutes, before Ayr thought they had taken the lead when the ball was forced home after a 60th-minute corner, but the linesman signalled an infringement and the goal was ruled out.

Russell beat Aiken to Wilson’s curling cross on 68 minutes, and the visitors built an attack which led to the only goal of the game. After some last-ditch defending had kept the first wave of attack at bay, Agyemang’s challenge on McLennan broke kindly for Watret, who rifled an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Cooper failed to control Frizzell’s through ball as Airdrie chased an equaliser, and as the Diamonds threw bodies forward further chances fell to the visitors, Graham’s excellent block denying ex-Airdrie loanee Jake Hastie with ten minutes remaining.

MacDonald halted McLennan with a fine sliding tackle on 81 minutes, but the defender’s afternoon wouldn’t last much longer as a stoppage-time ankle injury forced him off to further Airdrie’s selection woes ahead of Tuesday’s trip to face Raith Rovers.

Another tough one to take for the Diamonds, who perhaps didn’t create as much as they’d have liked, but will feel they didn’t deserve to leave empty-handed.