Bryan Prunty fired a hat-trick as Ayr coasted to a comfortable victory over Queen's Park at Hampden.
Ayr traveleld to Hampden Park yesterday having scored three goals in each of their last two outings and were looking to continue that run.
Ryan Stevenson was a very early substitute for Ayr in 6 minutes and he made an instant impact to set up the opener. In 9 minutes he crossed for Prunty to turn the ball in from six yards. It was just the start that Ayr were looking for, but that was all that was on show at half time.
Ayr doubled their advantage, however, within two minutes of the restart when Prunty netted from close range.
Queen's Park were not in the match and Prunty completed the rout when he ran onto a long clearance and lobbed goalkeeper David Crawford in 67 minutes giving the Ayr striker his 12th goal of the season and his third for the day.
The result keeps the pressure on Raith Rovers and Brechin City at the top of the league, Raith winning easily but City having to wait until an injury time winner to maintain their points difference over Ayr.