The Morton No1 had been feeling sick throughout the first half and looked set to be subbed at the interval.

But he felt fit to return for the second 45 after washing down a Snickers with a bottle of water and went on to make a crucial stop to deny Robbie Crawford and keep his side in the game.

Gaston was later named in the SPFL Team of the Week and received glowing praise from gaffer Duffy, who admitted it was no mean feat for a shotstopper to earn his acclaim.

Speaking exclusively to the Tele, the Ton boss said: “Gats [Derek Gaston] has made a phenomenal save. I mean, an unbelievable save to stop it going to 2-0.

“Anybody who knows me will tell you, I don’t give goalkeepers praise easily. Not at all. Over the years, any coach or team will tell you.

“They’ve never been my favourite people. They’re the most important guy in the team, in my opinion, but I’m never fulsome in my praise.

“On Saturday it was a top, top save from a top goalkeeper. And he was actually quite unwell at half-time, him and Lee Kilday.

“He just felt really sick. He was ill and shaking, and we gave him a Snickers and a bottle of water because we thought his sugar level was down.

“So we had to consider substitutes, and had Grant [Adam] warming up at half-time, but thankfully he managed to see it out.

“And as I said, once again his performance helped us to achieve the win.” As well as singling out Gaston for the save, Duffy also expressed his admiration for the less glamourous contributions made by other members of his squad.

He added: “I have to mention the commitment from guys like Ricki Lamie and Michael Miller just doing the things that sometimes you don’t get credit for: winning headers, blocking, tackling.

“For me, Stefan McCluskey has put in a tremendous amount of work in the last few weeks, and his attitude was great when he went on [against Ayr].

“There was no toys out of the pram.

“It was like: ‘Can I influence the game? Can I be positive and get at the defenders?’ And he’s at the post at the end of the game clearing a shot and kicking it away.

“You have to work until the end of every game. Even in the dying seconds they [Ayr] had a shot and a corner, so you can never switch off for a split second.”