Ayr rugby club struggle against doomed Dundee

Apr 2 2008 Ayrshire Post

IT finished almost the way it started. Away back in their first match in Premier One last September, Ayr lost by a point (23-22) at Millbrae to Dundee. On Saturday in the penultimate league game it was honours even at 17-17.

In between those meetings, Ayr have ensured a top-six spot while Dundee are relegated to Premier Two next term.

Ayr remained true to form in not performing against sides in the bottom half of the league having drawn five and lost one — against Dundee — and that was the story at Mayfield.

There were chances for the visitors in the opening stages but it took until almost half time before Ayr got points on the board.

A sweeping crossfield move from a lineout saw Ryan Holland go over in the corner for Kenny Diffenthal to convert for a 7-0 half time lead.

Three minutes into the second half a wayward kick by Ayr found the dangerous Mike Kerr and the Dundee wing ran it back for a fine solo try.

Barry Jones converted but a Diffenthal penalty restored the lead until Jones replied in kind with the game into the final quarter.

Ayr were pressing inside the Dundee 22 but the ball went loose and a hack and chase into the danger zone saw the visitors offend to the extent that ref David Changleng awarded a penalty try which Jones goaled. With 10 minutes left, Dundee sniffed the chance of a double over Ayr.

Finally the Ayr pack rumbled, drove and won a penalty which resulted in hooker Pat MacArthur driving over for Diffenthal to level the scores.

Ayr came close in injury time to snatching a win but in the end had to settle for two points and the realisation that in matches against the Mayfield men this season, the points spilt has been six-four in Dundee's favour.

"I was really disappointed in our performance after last week against Hawks," said Ayr coach Craig Redpath.

"The fact that we didn't take our chances early on when we were on top came back to haunt us. We didn't have the collective focus that we had last week and the mental approach was wrong.

"The weather deteriorated from bad to horrendous and we gave away a couple of soft scores after half-time. Even then, we had chances later on but didn't put them away even missing one with the final play of the game."

The coach looked at the stats referring to the results against sides in the lower half of the league and reckoned that there were a lot of points thrown away because the approach wasn't as it should have been. We weren't clinical enough but it is better that we get that out of the way before we play Currie on Saturday."

That is true since Ayr cannot afford to be complacent against a side who have, over the past couple of seasons, provided them with the toughest of tests as well as being involved in some breathtaking encounters. A cup-tie against the men from Malleny Park is a mouthwatering prospect.

Redpath admitted: "Last week against Hawks and this week against Dundee were chalk and cheese in terms of our performance and they could well go into the game as favourites after their win against Hawks at Old Anniesland.

“It will be a big challenge and will be very physical up front so we have to get our game a long way up from last Saturday.

“It will be one of those games where the result will depend on which side wants it most. We are hoping that we will have a big crowd because a win would see us back at Millbrae in the quarter-final against Heriot’s and that could be another cracker."

Indeed it could, so with Ayr having one league match remaining — against Currie of all clubs — and the league long settled, the focus is now on the cup and Saturday’s clash promises to be yet another of a series of matches against Currie which will live long in the memory.