Ayr Rugby Club beat Hawks to book Premier Cup semi-final place

Apr 1 2011 Ayrshire Post (main ed)

ONE down - five(?) to go!

Twenty days after the last shot fired in anger against Bristol in the B and I Cup, Ayr showed no signs of rustiness as they clinically disposed of a Hawks side who went into this Premier Cup quarter-final truly believing that a semi spot could be theirs (writes RON EVANS).

Hawks drew first blood with a Dean Kelbrick penalty after three minutes but only a minute later, Mark Bennett, who had been one of the few successes in the Scotland U20 side in their Six Nations campaign, sliced through the Hawks defence for the opening try for Ross Curle to convert.

Cammy Taylor was the instigator of try number two six minutes later and Curle finished off, converted and Ayr were ahead of the clock at 14-3.

Kelbrick landed his second penalty a couple of minutes later but the Ayr pack were on top and another try looked an inevitability. Curle snaffled the ball for a quick tap penalty and his pass put Mark Stewart over and although the conversion was missed, Ayr were cruising at 19-6 going into the second quarter.

Hawks were never going to lie down though and Ayr took the foot off the gas to let them back in with the result that when Damien Kelly was sin-binned, the home side took their first real chance for Rory McKay to grab their first try.

It looked as though the deficit might be reduced even further as Hawks mounted a series of attacks but a depleted Ayr held out to take the eight point lead into the break.

Hawks kept up the pressure into the second half and when Robbie Hair scampered over for Kelbrick to convert, the margin was down to one point with game on.

Ayr suddenly regained the composure of the first 20 minutes, Steven Manning scorched away and AJ MacFarlane was on hand to claim try number four and give some breathing space.

With the pack reasserting their dominance, the back row of Robbie Colhoun, Andy Dunlop and Paul Burke, augmented from the bench by Glen Tippet, took control with the next score falling appropriately to Dunlop with ten minutes left and at that point there was no way Ayr were going to let the chance of a semi-final spot against Boroughmuir slip.

Skipper Kelly declared: "We are now only one game away from making it two finals in succession at Murrayfield. But we let ourselves down with our discipline and let them back into the game after a great first 20 minutes.

“We really went to sleep in the middle period for them to come back to only one point behind and that was very careless of us but we cranked it up again in the last quarter. We have to consider coming to Old Anniesland and getting a win by five tries to two is a pretty good result.

“That performance shows just how hot and cold we are as a side but the experience we gained in the British and Irish Cup has made a difference because we had to lift the intensity of our game in that competition and we did that in spells. If we can put together 80 minutes of the sort of rugby we can play, we can really do some damage.”

Kelly continued: “The league is always your priority throughout the season but now we are in with a chance of the cup as well so we have to really focus on both competitions in our last five games and bring the intensity that we showed in the British and Irish Cup to what is a really exciting run in.

"From my own point of view, I found Murrayfield in the cup final last season an unreal experience and it would be fantastic to go out of my time with Ayr with another piece of silverware."

Hawks coach Peter Wright was magnanimous in defeat. He said: "It was a fantastic advert for the Scottish club game. It was exactly what you would expect from a cup tie between two sides who are great rivals with good tries, good all round play and some great defence with both sides going at it hammer and tongs right up to the end.

“Of course it was disappointing to lose but we gave it everything we had and in a really exciting game, in the end, the better side won."

Wright reiterated Kelly's point about the experience Ayr have had in the British and Irish Cup.

He said: "Ayr are a battle hardened, quality side after being involved in the B and I Cup and I believe that was the difference today and is the difference between Ayr, Melrose and possibly Currie and the other sides in Premier One.

“It hardens sides up and makes the players perform to a higher level and we will be going all out in our final league matches to clinch second or third spot to get into the British and Irish Cup next season because that is the level of rugby we want to be playing regularly."

Ayr change priorities on Saturday when the travel to Goldenacre to face Heriot’s on Premier One business and despite the Nails coming off a 26-10, four try defeat at the hands of Boroughmuir, they will be out to at least claim a notable scalp for coach Bob McKillop who is leaving at the end of the season.

With Melrose at home to Dundee, Currie at Boroughmuir and Hawks at home to Hawick, Ayr cannot afford to slip up if the dream of the double is to remain on track - but what a send off that would be for Skippy as he returns to Oz.

Team: Grant Anderson; Steven Manning, Mark Bennett, Mark Stewart, Cammy Taylor; Ross Curle, AJ MacFarlane; Gordon Reid, Stephen Adair, Andy Kelly, Scott Sutherland, Damien Kelly, Robbie Colhoun, Paul Burke, Andy Dunlop.

Bench - Andrew MacFarlane, Gordon Sykes, Dean Stewart, Glen Tippet, Dougie Steele.

lAyr’s Robbie Fergusson was in the Scotland under 18 team who beat England under 18s 26-21 at Leeds.