Doncaster Knights 32 Ayr 7

The question on everyones mind was how would Ayr cope against a fully professional side in their opening match against Doncaster in the British and Irish Cup?

The answer is not fully reflected in the 32-7 scoreline since the Scottish champions gave a very good account of themselves at Castle Park but the gap between the sides was apparent from the opening minutes.

Former Ayr hooker Pat MacArthur, now full time with Glasgow Warriors, had remarked during the week, having played in a friendly against the Yorkshire side early in the season, that the first couple of scrums would be be crucial. They certainly were and the powerful Doncaster pack laid down a marker putting Ayr on the back foot in the set piece and keeping a grip on the game throughout.

They were on the board in only seven minutes, the pack paving the way for center Hudson Tonga'Uhila to cross for the opening try only for Ali Warnock to miss a simple conversion. The game was into the second quarter before Doncaster added to that lead though, the Ayr defence having to work overtime to keep their line intact but after a Warnock penalty to five meters from the Ayr line, they took a scrum instead of the penalty and No 8 Chris Planchant, man of the match by the end, peeled off the back to crash over. Warnock converted but Ayr started to put their game together and Ross Curle, wearing No10 for the Millbrae men, put a penalty close to the Doncaster line but when the ball was moved wide, the home defence forced the fumble and the chance was gone.

In first half injury time, Ayr lost splinter scrum ball and wing Doug Flockhart looked certain to score before as splendid covering tackle by prop Gordon Reid saved the score and going in at 12-0 down gave Ayr a glimmer of hope.

That hope was virtually extinguished in the first fifteen minutes of the second half when Warnock slotted a couple of penalties then into the final quarter, Tonga'Uhia broke down the left, chipped forward and the ball bounced for the unfortunately named wing Matt Williams to collect and score under the posts for Warnock to convert and take the score to 25-0. With eleven minutes left Ayr finally got on the board, a superb jinking run by Curle putting him away finding Stephen Adair on his shoulder for the hooker to go in at the posts for Mark Stewart to convert.

Ayr kept up the pressure and with the try on an inside pass was intercepted by Warnock who galloped away for a heartbreaker of a try which he converted to take the margin to twenty five points when it could have been reduced to eleven. That was it, Ayr had put in a massive shift and came away by no means disgraced by a team who, despite their bottom half of the table position, kept them under constant pressure.

"There is no doubt that it was massive step up for us" said coach Kenny Murray. "They were very powerful in the pack and were more aggressive than us at the breakdown in the first half. They had us on the back foot for long periods of the game and they took their chances well and we gave away what, by our standards, were a couple of soft tries but there is no doubt that they deserved the win although the scoreline could have been closer."

"It was a bit of an eye opener for the team and we know that we have to be more aggressive and streetwise on Friday against Rotherham at Millbrae but if we learn the lessons from this one we could cause Rotherham problems. Not having Frazier Climo at stand off did disrupt our back division a bit but we know that we can play better than that and that we will be more aggressive at Millbrae on Friday night. We have a lot to offer and the team are excited about the prospect of taking on another professional side in front of what hopefully will be a big crowd on Friday but we have to take our chances and go toe to toe with them if we are going to get a result."

"It was a good experience for the boys and there is no despondency in the squad do with no injuries from the game we will be raring to go on Friday."

In Ayr's group, Cardiff beat Pontypridd and Fridays opponents Rotherham Titans will pose problems as they showed in their opening match of the British and Irish Cup when they beat Birnmingham and Solihull Bees 52 -10 but their opponents are a long way adrift at the bottom of the Championship table while Rotherham and Doncaster are a very close match so Friday nights clash at Millbrae (ko 8pm) is not one to be missed. In front of a home crowd Ayr know that is where they can show just why they are Scottish champions and with practically a full squad to choose from, it will one of the biggest nights Millbrae has seen. (highlights on www.scottishrugbytv.com)

Director of Rugby Jock Craig was realistic if disappointed in the performance. "We were given a very hard time in the forwards"he said" but although we had a professional ourselves in the front row, it was the Ayr lads (and a former Ayr lad) who acquitted themselves well. Andy Dunlop had a great game in the back row, Jonno Crossan was tireless around the park and AJ MacFarlane was impressive when he came on. We could make excuses-the long journey to Doncaster and things like that but in the end the fact that we were playing a professional side told and I think the team can be pretty pleased with the way they stood up to Doncaster."

Friday night is the big one. Don't miss it!