Late penalty knocks Ayr Rugby Club off top

Oct 9 2009 by Mike Wilson

AYR drop to second in Premier Division One after losing to an injury time penalty at Mayfield.

Two years ago at Millbrae, Ayr were losing 22-23 against Dundee HSFP with a conversion to win the match with the last kick. It was missed and Dundee took the spoils.

Faced with a similar situation on Saturday at 22-21 down and into stoppage time, Barry Jones nailed the kick and Dundee again claimed the points.

To have thrown away a 22-14 lead in the final quarter was, if not unforgivable, certainly uncharacteristic for Ayr.

It had all looked so good at the beginning, two swift turnovers giving Frazier Climo the chance to split the defence, score under the posts and convert to put Ayr 7-0 up after only two minutes.

Dundee rallied, Danny Levison and Greig Ryan were held short but Ayr conceded the penalty and up stepped Jones, the former scrum half now at No10 and playing his first match of the season, to get the home side on the board.

Ayr suffered a blow when centre Mark Stewart limped from the field with an ankle injury and Jones rubbed salt in the wound with his second penalty two minutes later.

Almost from the restart Ayr, with a wind gusting at up to 50 knots behind them, stretched their lead with a Climo penalty but on the half hour mark, Dundee stuck a penalty in the corner. The referee played advantage for Dundee from an Ayr infringement and full-back James Fleming was in support for the try which took them ahead.

With half-time looming, Climo put in a pin point cross kick and Grant Anderson was the grateful recipient to go over for the try and take Ayr into the break 15-11 ahead.

Into the wind, a revitalised Ayr battered the Dundee line but a solid defence held. Then from a break out, Ayr were forced into another indiscretion in their own twenty two for Jones to narrow the gap to one point with his third penalty but again the champions responded and looked to be taking control as the pack began to rumble.

The pressure was on and when the gap appeared, Ross Curle needed no second asking to scamper through for Ayr's third try. Climo converted and at 22-14, Ayr should have closed the game out.

But again Dundee hit back, Alan Brown making the hard yards into the Ayr twenty two for Chris Cumming to rumble over for the try. Jones again converted to bring the margin back to one point but with six minutes remaining Ayr had the chance to make the points secure.

It was a difficult kick for Climo in the conditions but his 40 metre kick looked good until the wind pulled it narrowly past the upright.

Then came that final chance for Dundee, Jones held his nerve to slot the penalty and when the whistle went moments later, Dundee celebrated as though they had clinched the title.

Dundee coach Ian Rankin knew what he was about when he formulated his game plan and was delighted that his side was the first to beat the champions this season.

As they had done when they lost at Selkirk at the same time last season, Ayr looked lethargic at times and were second best at the contact area too often.

Director of rugby Jock Craigadmitted: "The hungrier team won. We had a lot of pressure and chances but when we got ahead, we didn't close out the game."

Coach Kenny Murray added: “It was very disappointing to lose a game we should have won. Our decision making was poor at times and we certainly weren't accurate or dynamic enough at the breakdown.

“We had a couple of bad lapses in defence to let them in for their tries and where we are normally clinical in our finishing, we didn't achieve that this time.

"It was a blow to lose Mark Stewart so early although it looks hopeful that he will be all right for Saturday but we should be good enough to win games despite losing a player of his quality. Credit to Dundee, they played well and took their chances but this is a wake up call for us.

“It will hopefully get us back to earth for what is a huge game against Melrose at Millbrae on Saturday and being in front of our home crowd will be a big help."

So Ayr drop to second, Dundee move up to fourth and sandwiched between them are Melrose who come to Ayr on Saturday having lost only once in six starts, to the new league leaders Currie.

Millbrae beat Cumnock 26 -8 with tries from Johnny Gemmell, David Courtney, Stewart Kerr and Robin Dale secured the bonus point with Courtney kicking three conversions.