Ayr Rugby Club bounce back

Oct 16 2009

AYR confirmed they are back on track to defend their ScottishHydro Premier One title as they bounced back from their first defeat at Dundee a week earlier.

Even with a 19 point deficit, the result flatters Melrose who were looking at a 34-3 scoreline as the game entered the final eight minutes.

If Ayr fans were anxious as to how their team would react to losing their 100 per cent record, they need not have worried. Melrose displayed all the traits Ayr had at Mayfield the week before, second to the breakdown, hesitant in the contact area and with their dangerous backs getting the ball on the back foot, they became easy targets for some voracious home tackling.

Scott Wight had the first chance in six minutes but pulled his kick wide then when presented with a similar opportunity three minutes later, Frazier Climo nailed the opening points for Ayr. He did the same six minutes later after it took three Melrose tacklers to haul down centre Mark Stewart and with the visitors’ backs in total disarray, came the first try.

Paul Burke's superb burst had set up the field position for the attack, Richard Higgins blatant take out on Climo resulted in a penalty andalthough the Kiwi missed the shot, Melrose were unable to get out of the danger zone. When a lazy pass was popped, it was the Ayr No10 who added to his tally as he ghosted in to intercept, score and convert.

Wight opened the Melrose account with a penalty but it was sandwiched between a couple of Climo strikes, the second after Higgins had been given the yellow card he had been lucky to avoid previously, and Ayr went in 19-3 up at the break.

It was as good a 40 minutes as Ayr have played all season, the front row edging the scrums, Damien Kelly and Scott Sutherland, when he wasn't ruling the line-out, making some big carries and the back row of Burke, the rock solid Glen Tippett and Jon Crossan, whose work rate and turnover count were outstanding, laying the foundation.

The backs built on it with relish, Climo and Jamie Hunter varying the game, Stewart a formidable midfield general with Ross Curle his sprightly cohort. While Cammy Taylor has been consistent since his return from Australia, the biggest step up was made by Steven Manning and Dougie Steele who had their best outings by far, both asking serious questions of a fragile Melrose defence.

It was more of the same in the second half although Melrose upped their game a notch or two but still found themselves either playing their rugby too far away from the danger zone or perishing on some ferocious Ayr defence.

Climo claimed his fifth penalty, then took his haul to 24 as he converted Hamish Mitchell's try and what a special moment it was for the big Kiwi prop whose spell in Scotland with Glasgow Warriors has been less than productive but who has shown up as a quality player when turning out for Ayr.

When Steele crossed for try number three it was no more than the full-back deserved after several counter attacks which had forced Melrose into desperate defence and it looked as though it would be bonus for Ayr and near humiliation for 'Rose.

Credit to the Greenyards men, they stuck to it and grabbed two late tries from Rob Chrystie and John Dalziel with Wight converting the first but anyone suggesting that it was consolation to Melrose needed only to look at their demeanour at the final whistle to realise they took this defeat very hard.

In patches of the second half they had tested the Ayr defence but the determination to defend the line was epitomised by the extraordinary sight of former pro flanker John Dalziel, a very useful citizen around the park, being driven from around eight yards inside the Ayr twenty two to ten yards beyond it.

Coach Kenny Murray hailed Ayr’s performance as the best of the season, particularly in the first half. He said: “Our focus was good during the build-up and we knew how important it was to do well with both sides on level points in second place. It was very important to bounce back after last week at Dundee and there was no better game to have as a challenge.

“Our work rate was high, our aggression and chance taking were first class and our defence was outstanding. I would say that the win came from the performance of the back row and midfield in shutting down the Melrose threat although every one of our squad did what was asked of them.

“It was certainly the most physical game I have seen this season and the passion in the contact from both sides was fantastic.

“We now have three games to target, against Stewart’s Melville, Selkirk and West before we meet Currie at Millbrae so we have to make sure we maintain the standards we set in this one.

"We have players to come back in Andy Dunlop, Andy Wilson, Grant Anderson, Johnny McClung and AJ McFarlane so that takes us back to where we can be."

On Saturday, it’s off to Inverleith to face a winless Stew Melville who prop up the table. Five points will be on offer and if Ayr pick up maximum from two out of the next three, the clash with Currie at Millbrae on November 7 will be yet another of the classics between the two sides.

Ayr: D Steele; S Manning, R Curle, M Stewart, C Taylor; F Climo, J Hunter; G Reid, S Adair, S Fenwick, D Kelly, S Sutherland, J Crossan, P Burke, G Tippett. Subs: G Sykes, H Mitchell, B Hendry, S Nimmo, J McCrossan.

Melrose: F Thomson; C Anderson, J Murray, J King, B Allen; S Wight, S McCormick; K Cooney, L Gibson, R Higgins, B Runciman, S Johnston, J Dalziel, N McTaggart, G Dodds. Subs: W Mitchell, A Gillie, G Elder, R Chrystie, A Dodds.

Referee: A Healy.