Ayr 53 Edinburgh Accies 20

The Glenfiddich is safe.

The bottle of malt wagered between Ayr president Billy McHarg and Accies coach Ian Barnes which Barnes had suggested he might be sampling on the way back to Raeburn Place still sits comfortably in the Millbrae clubhouse. Ayr collected a winning bonus with the sort of performance the coaches had been looking for as they recovered from a shaky start when they went 12-8 behind to provide the crowd with a sparkling second half display and showed the killer instinct in piling up the points which has been lacking when they have established a comfortable lead.

However the Christmas spirit extended to the visitors in the early stages after Ayr hooker Pat MacArthur's try had opened the scoring in three minutes was profuse, firstly an Ayr overcooked throw-in five meters from their line found a grateful Tom Drennan who only had to fall over the line to score then Ayr played that popular festive party game of statues as Matt Coupar weaved in from forty yards out. He was not the first to have benefitted from this sort of largesse, Chris Kinloch of Currie and Rotherham's Ben Coulbeck coming to mind but that try by Coupar was enough to dispel the lethargy.

The home side had been missing the sin binned Scott Nimmo for the two scores and on his resumption, Ayr put put festive sentiment aside and proceeded to fillet the unsuspecting Accies. Lock Scott Sutherland rumbled in for Ayr's second try as they upped the pace then Frazier Climo scored what, even by his standards, was a belter. Taken out late after only a couple of minutes and swopping places with full back Ruraidh Jackson, his revenge was a seventy five meter blast on a knackered ankle and most of the Accies in front of him when he got the ball and still they couldn't lay a finger on him as he brought the crowd to their feet with a try which took Ayr in at half time 20-12 ahead.

Alex Blair, who faced Jackson in a fascinating confrontation of the young gun No10s, slotted a penalty to bring the margin back to five points early in the second half but from there in in it was all Ayr. They took on the Accies big men Ed Stuart, Greg Campbell and Dan Teague and bossed and bullied them into submission as a prelude to the try fest of the second half.

Jamie Hunter scampered in for the try bonus point counter, Damien Kelly showed the Accies pack how to walk the walk rather than talk the talk as he barrelled over to cap a display showing he was back to his belligerent best, MacArthur grabbed his second, Steven Manning cruised down the wing for number seven and fittingly it was Jackson who went in for the eighth try. The young pretender had played solid rugby throughout his first eighty minutes back in harness after his injury in Glasgow Warriors opening home match in September, his kicking from hand and at goal, as five conversions and a penalty testify, was impressive and he always posed a threat with ball in hand with crafty distribution and asking questions of the Accies defence. His time will come-soon.

A half century of points against a side who had travelled to Millbrae confident that they would return to the capital with the spoils and got huffy when that turned out not to be the case all started with the pack. Gordon Reid, two try MacArthur and Stuart Fenwick were never in trouble in the front row, Kelly and Sutherland dominated the line out and Jono Crossan-if you got points for turnovers he would be up there with Climo in the stats- Glen Tippett and Scott Nimmo then Paul Burke ravaged the Accies back division giving first AJ MacFarlane then Hunter the chance to run the game.

Assisitant coach Peter Laverie was delighted. "Overall that is the sort of performance we have been looking for. That was Ayr at their best and when we do play like that, some sides find it impossible to live with."

"The sheer daftness of the Accies second try was the kick up the backside we needed and we turned the screw from then on as the pack dominated the game and Scott Sutherland's try got us back on track. From then on the half hour mark we turned what was a tricky first half into a sublime second half and it must have been great for the spectators to watch. It was the sort of game we had to put in going into the game against Hawks next week in what will be a huge game because they will be really up for it but as has been pointed out, Ayr are a big game team and here is no doubt hat given the time of year, the league positions and the Glasgow element, this is undoubtedly a very big game."

This was indeed exactly the sort of booster Ayr needed to take into the final game of 2009 against Hawks at Old Anniesland. Peter Wright's troops are going well and their demolition of West at Burnbrae on Saturday will make them very dangerous opponents indeed and Ayr will have to be at their very best if they are going to go into 2010 still on Currie's tail in pursuit of retaining the Scottish Hydro Premier 1 title.

Ayr: R Jackson; S Manning, R Curle, M Stewart, C Taylor; F Climo, A J MacFarlane; G Reid, P MacArthur, S Fenwick, D Kelly, S Sutherland, S Nimmo, J Crossan, G Tippett Subs P Burke, B Mc Pherson, G Sykes, J Hunter, A Wilson

The Millbrae XV again delivered the goods in style with a 34 - 7 win against Clydebank in West Division 1 with tries from Paul McKinley, Allan MacGregor and Paul James, David Courtney bagging a nineteen point haul with two tries, three conversions and a penalty.