Ayr Rugby Club triumph against West with 34-26 win

Nov 6 2009 by Mike Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

Ayr Rugby Club 34 West 26

AS so often happens these days, Ayr were given a stern test by an opposition raising their game, but the champions were able to claim their ninth win from ten starts against West at Burnbrae.

West coach John Beattie admitted his team are ‘working their butts off to stay in Premier 1'.

With last week’s hat trick hero Elliot McLaren and Gordon Bulloch in the front row and Guy Perrett at lock, West were always going to be pretty formidable up front.

But they started in expansive mode with the ball being thrown about merrily.

Ayr bided their time and struck twice in three minutes with the clock barely in double figures.

Mark Stewart was the catalyst for both scores, first breaking a couple of tackles to put lock Scott Sutherland in then again from ruck ball making space for Ross Curle to exploit.

Frazier Climo converted both but West tightened up their game and with Ayr on the back foot from some pretty physical driving, scrum half Murray McConnell scooted over for Mike Sim to open the West account.

When Climo skewed a couple of penalties, it looked as though West might indeed do some damage. But Climo did the damage – his break splitting the home defence to put Paul Burke over for the third try. Climo converted but it was former Ayr favourite James Eddie, now a draft pro with West, who got them on the front foot again with some pretty hefty surges but the Ayr defence held until first half injury time when Bulloch crashed over from a short penalty.

Climo was carted off to hospital shortly after the restart and this could have unnerved Ayr.

Flanker Jamie Kerr crossed for try number three to pull West back to 21-19, then Burke was binned – is it him or the referees? – and with the game finely poised, nerves started to show on both sides.

But Ayr calmed things down after Sim panicked on a chip and chase and Curle, displaying his all round talent, took over the kicking as well as the stand off slot and banged over the penalty.

Glen Tippett grabbed his try and the bonus point and McLaren claimed another try after some discussion among the officials and Ben Wright added the conversion to the bonus point.

At 29-26 it was still anybody's game until ten minutes from the end when Ayr broke out and wing Andy Wilson, making a welcome return to the ranks after injury, raced over for the clinching try.

Coach Kenny Murray insisted: “When we are away from home, we aim for the win then the bonus and that is what we did here.

"They had us going back at times but we did better in the scrums although we had a couple of defensive lapses and we have to have a look at our on-field discipline because we are giving away too many penalties.

“Again we took our foot of the gas and let them into the game because when we played good rugby we were miles ahead of them."

"We have avoided talking about the game against Currie so that the side would not lose their focus but now we can look forward to what will be a huge game for both sides in which they will be hot favourites coming to Millbrae off an outstanding run of form.”

The word on Ayr's prolific No10 was that Climo's injury was not serious and the trip to the hospital had been a precaution but there is no certainty that he will line up against Currie.

Coach Murray added: “We hope to have Andy Dunlop back as well as Ed Kalman and Hamish Mitchell because this is going to one physical game and we have to stand toe to toe and give absolutely no quarter because the one pack in the league who can match them is Ayr.

"We are undoubtedly a big game team and they don't come any bigger than this one on Saturday."

The build up to the game will be a series of mind games between Murray and the wily Ally Donaldson who has been such a vital factor in the success of the Malleny Park outfit but come 3pm on Saturday, it will be all about what happens on the Millbrae pitch.

The outcome will have a major impact on the destination of the Premier 1 title and it would be a brave, or foolish, man who would predict the outcome except to forecast that not one player on either side will have much left in the tank after eighty minutes of high octane rugby.