A late equaliser from substitute Nikolay Todorov ensured that Arbroath secured their first point in their return to the William Hill Championship.
Jamie Murphy’s early goal for Ayr sparked fears of a repeat of last months’ Premier Sports Cup defeat, but Todorov’s header earned a 1-1 draw for the Lichties.
There was five changes to the side that started last week’s defeat away to Forfar Athletic, with Ryan Flynn, Harry Cochrane, Scott Stewart, Ryan Dow and Gavin Reilly joining the starting eleven.
It took the visitors just five minutes to grab the opening goal of the game in front of the BBC cameras.
Curtis Main was able to find Jamie Murphy with a pass from inside the box and the visiting captain struck a first-time strike from range which gave Aidan McAdams no chance to save – putting Scott Brown’s side in front.
Despite Ayr reaching the promotion playoffs last season, Arbroath refused to stand back and kept pushing for an equaliser.
The best effort in the first half for the Lichties came from Ryan Flynn in the 39th minute. A 50/50 ball bobbled its way to the midfielder, whose curled effort was inches wide of the goal.
In a gutsy second half, it was Arbroath who looked more likely to grab a goal. Gavin Reilly managed to break away from the defence shortly after the interval, racing his way towards the goal. Sadly, his powerful shot stung the hands of David Mitchell and floated out for a corner.
David Gold and Colin Hamilton seized the opportunity and brought on Todorov with five minutes to play.
The decision proved to be a wise one as in the 88th minute, the Bulgarian found the target to even the score. A cross was met at the back post by Todorov, who towered over the defender to nod the ball into the net.
That goal capped off a fine performance from the Lichties, who travel to Glasgow next weekend to face Queens Park.
Arbroath: McAdams; Wilkie, O’Brien, Muirhead, Watson; Flynn, Cochrane (Todorov, 85); Marshall (Callachan, 71), Dow, Stewart; Reilly (Pettifer, 90)
Ayr United: Mitchell; McAllister, Dick, McKenzie, McMann; Bonnar (Walker, 59), Watret (Hastie, 70), Murphy (Rus, 70); Thomas (Ure, 45), Main (Want, 66), Oakley
Attendance: 1578
