Dundee HSFP 24 Ayr 22

Two years ago at Millbrae, Ayr were losing 22-23 against Dundee HSFP with a conversion to win the match with the last kick of the game. The kick was missed and Dundee took the spoils. Faced with a similar situation at Mayfield on Saturday at 22-21 down and into injury time, Dundee's Barry Jones was faced with a similar situation but this time the kick was nailed and Dundee again claimed the points.

That it should have come to such a close run thing in the end something which Ayr have faced more than once this season already and this time their luck ran out but to have thrown away a 22-14 lead in the final quarter was, if not unforgivable, certainly uncharacteristic.

It had all looked so good at the beginning, two swift turnovers by Ayr giving Frazier Climo the chance to split the Dundee 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 Dundee on the board.

A couple of minutes later, Ayr suffered a blow when center 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 Dundee into the lead.

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. Despite having the practically gale force wind in their favour, it almost looked at times to be a disadvantage for Ayr who had difficulty in judging the kicks to the Dundee red zone, the ball more than once going dead resulting in the long and dispiriting trek back to a scrum where the kick was taken.

Into the wind, a re-vitalised 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 Scottish Hydro Premier 1 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 forty meter 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 but was nevertheless absolutely delighted that his side was the first to beat the champions this season."Last time we were in this league, fear would have been our motivation but this squad has belief and the desire to play for their team mates" he said. " We worked on Ayr's flat fast up defence and our angles as well as trying to disrupt Ayr's composure and I think we did that but today we had emphasised that we needed to take all our chances and we did that at crucial points of the game."

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, as Ayr's Director of Rugby Jock Craig pointed out. "The hungrier team won" he said , "We had a lot of pressure and chances but when we got ahead, we didn't close out the game."

"It was very disappointing to lose a game we should have won" said Ayr coach Kenny Murray. "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 in the game, although it looks hopeful that he will be alright for Saturday against Melrose, 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 place 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. Ayr cannot afford to be anything but on the very top of their form against a side who will be as keen to claim the champions scalp as Dundee were.