THERE were celebrations all round on Saturday night as Ayr United's player of the year awards were handed out – hours after the Honest Men made sure of Championship safety.

A goalless draw with Partick Thistle was just enough to confirm that Scott Brown's men will play in the second tier in 2024-25, with the point opening up a four-point gap between Ayr and the relegation play-off place.

Ayr created plenty of chances throughout the 90 minutes, with just a touch of composure lacking in front of goal, while keeper Josh Clarke pulled off a good save to deny Thistle's Aidan Fitzpatrick with the best chance of the second hald.

Boss Scott Brown told the club's media team afterwards: "When myself and Steven [Whittaker] came in, that was our main aim - to make sure the club survived. It's important that we're in the Championship and pushing on next season.

"I thought today's performance was very controlled, and that comes from a lot of hard work and belief from the players, so fair play to them. 

"They worked extremely hard and I thought we didn’t look like we were really in too much trouble throughout the 90 minutes."

There were few smiles bigger at the awards night than that worn by winger Jamie Murphy, who walked away with the players' player of the year, supporters' player of the year and AU Player Fund player of the year accolades.

George Stanger won the young player of the year prizes from both the supporters and the AU Player Fund, while Logan Chalmers took home the goal of the season prize for his stunning strike against Raith Rovers just before Christmas.

Lauren McBlain won the players' and supporters' player of the year prize in the club's ladies' section, while Louise Cameron took the young player of the year award.

Fraser Bryden and Paul Smith won the community player of the year prize, while the club's media teams won the 'commitment of the year' award.

Scott Tomlinson and Lucas McRoberts were recognised for the impacts made on their first team debuts, while Billy Duthie won a special recognition award for his services to women's football, and chairman David Smith was named the winner of the 'outstanding achievement' prize.