Ayr 21 Currie 7

(Highlights on www.scottishrugbytv.com)

The celebratory fireworks rose into the late afternoon sky, the players hugged each other, president Billy McHarg smiled and a troup of ladies who had been among the one hundred and eighty at the Ladies Lunch came and did their cheer leader routine for the crowd (alright I made the last bit up but it was that sort of day!)

So what brought on his scene of euphoria, akin almost to when Ayr won the Scottish Hydro Premier 1 title earlier in the year? Quite simply that they had beaten arch rivals Currie in yet another epic clash between the two and in so doing had pulled level on points with the Malleny Park outfit at the top of Premier , trailing them now only on points differential.

Before the game Currie coach Ally Donaldson had cautioned 'Ayr have raised their game this season and will undoubtedly do it in this one because they are big game players'.

Prophetic words from the wily Donaldson who brought his side to Ayr on the back of ten straight wins and a four point lead over Ayr at the top of Premier 1 although there was a murmur at Millbrae that, having played four games on the trot at Malleny they would have chosen any other ground rather than Millbrae for their next foray on the road.

Not that it looked like that in the opening minutes, with Currie showing exactly why they have demolished so many sides in the league as they took the ball forward, released their backs and looked for wings Dougie Fife and the prolific Willie Moala to strike. Moala was struck early on, a thundering tackle unleashing just the sort of close quarter exchange of views the game needed to settle the players down.

Curruie settled first and when Edinburgh pro center Chris Kinloch probed the Ayr defence on the home twenty two, no one was probably more surprised than him to find the Ayr defence doing their Red Sea impersonation as they opened up, waved him past and stood aghast as they went five then seven points down after five minutes.

That upset Ayr a bit. The pack began to rumble and despite some pretty Currie moves to try to get the wide men into the game, Ayr gradually turned the screw.

Ross Curle was inches away from getting a hand to a deft Grant Anderson chip over the Currie line, a Climo hoist created panic at ground level, Paul Burke collected a yellow card-the betting in each game is now not if but when-and after a fine Jamie Hunter break supported by Anderson, Andy Wilson was held inches short. The field position was there though and Frazier Climo got Ayr on the board but it was the sorry sight of Currie stand off Andy Binikos being stretchered off with a broken ankle which, claimed the Currie coach with some justification, was the turning point in the game. That claim was made since Currie were without their regular back up No10 Matthew Scott who was only ruled out on Saturday morning so the visitors were faced with a fair bit of disruption.

Nevertheless, it was in front of that area that the battle was won with Ayr getting a stranglehold on the forward contest for Climo to land his second penalty reducing the margin to one point. The hits on both sides were massive, John Crossan, Glen Tippett, Andy Dunlop and the restored Paul Burke going toe to toe with Ross Weston and Jamie Thomson then after a couple of big carries by Damien Kelly and Scott Sutherland, a Currie scrum around half way looked like being the last play of the half. It was the last set piece but hooker Stuart Fenwick, giving probably his best performance in an Ayr jersey, nicked the strike against the head, the light went on in Climo's head, he went down the No10 channel, burst the first tackle and was uncatchable to the line. His conversion took Ayr in at half time 13-7 ahead.

In a game like this calculators were never going to be necessary to keep tabs on the score and with Johnny Smith and Climo both narrowly missing penalties, the game was still poised although Ayr were keeping Currie well away from the danger zone. The Currie midfield threat was nullified by Curle and Mark Stewart, the only real break came from former Ayr favourite Scott Forrest, now in the Currie ranks due to the draft while Wilson pulled off a series of copybook tackles on Fife and Cammy Taylor had Moala turning infield into traffic. After a big play by the Ayr pack, Currie lock Ryan Wilson was sin-binned but unlike when they were a man down and won the ten minutes 3-0, Ayr exacted full punishment with a Climo penalty then as fine a try as you could wish to see. Ayr hammered the right hand corner, the Currie defence crabbed infield and when they had come far enough Climo unleashed a pin point cross kick into the path of Dougie Steel who, having been on the field for two minutes as replacement for Grant Anderson, was there to collect and dot down. 'Jonny Wilkinson couldn't have done better' was one admiring comment though whether that is considered praise by a Kiwi is another matter!

Climo converted, Ayr were 21-7 ahead with twelve minutes to go and it was game over apart from a couple of forays which might have stretched the margin a bit further but Currie fought to the end and the scoreline reflected yet another epic struggle between the two sides who set the benchmark to which every other club side in has to Scotland aspire.

'Although we are champions the fact that they have been destroying teams has meant that the focus has been on Currie and that has taken the pressure off us.' said a delighted Ayr coach Kenny Murray

'We knew we were underdogs but we were well prepared and apart from the defensive glitch which let in the first try, our defence was really well organised but even then, losing that try made us realise that we couldn't afford to fall off any tackle. The only thing which could have lost it for us was if we had lost our focus but the physicality with which the boys went into the tackles and rucks was immense.'

'They tried to move us around but we countered that by not overcomitting players to the breakdown. We also stopped their big players like Ross Weston and Ryan Wilson and with no front foot ball they were unable to get much momentum and we stopped the ball getting to their danger men out wide.'

'For us, everybody had a big game when it mattered although if we couldn't produce the big game against Currie, we would have a problem. I also felt that Andy McPherson controlled the game very well and for only two yellow cards to be issued in a game of that intensity shows how well he handled it.'

'No doubt Frazier Climo will get the plaudits for his performance and rightly so but this was a huge game by the pack and everyone in the squad, whether starting or off the bench, played a massive part in the win.

'No question but that was our best performance of the season but there is still a long second half of the campaign to go and our challenge is now to keep up that standard but there is no doubt that it was a great game for us to take us into the British and Irish Cup in a couple of weeks.'

Ally Donaldson was philosophical in defeat 'The turning point came when Andy Binikos went off but overall Ayr did deserve the points.We have been lucky so far with injuries so it was a double whammy to lose out top No10 and have no real back up on the bench. These things even themselves out over a season so we just have to get on with it.'

So Ayr go into next weeks match at Millbrae against Watsonians (KO 2.30) as their final preparation for the British and Irish Cup knowing that they are a big game side who will represent Scottish clubs in the cross border tournament with, as Director of Rugby Jock Craig said ' the confidence form this game to truly represent Scottish club Rugby.'

Team

G Anderson; A Wilson, R Curle, M Stewart, C Taylor; F Climo, J Hunter; G Reid, S Fenwick, E Kalman, D Kelly, S Sutherland, J Crossan, P Burke, G Tippett

Subs S Adair, H Mitchell, A Dunlop, D Steele, AJ MacFarlane