Musselburgh 9 Ayr 31

Not the most impressive of scorelines, not the prettiest of games and probably the poorest performance by Ayr this season.

So whats new. Remember Ayr going out of the cup to Biggar at Millbrae a couple of seasons ago? They don't exactly reserve their best performances for the early rounds of the knock out competition and the first round of the Scottish Hydro Premier Cup against Musselburgh at Stoneyhill was no exception.

A Steven Manning try after eight minutes put Ayr in the lead, Andy Clark pulled back a penalty for the home side then Andy Dunlop, unfortunately left out of the final squad in the previous evenings club international, crossed for try number two.

With Ayr looking anything but focused on the game, Clark reduced the margin to three points with another couple of penalties and at 12-9, the Premier 3 side seemed possibly in line for a massive upset. Frazier Climo then took a hand and a mazy run with footwork worthy of Strictly Come Dancing, went over in the corner and converted from the touchline to take Ayr in at half time 19-9 ahead.

Musselburgh had put everything into their first half effort but still managed to defend solidly against a stodgy Ayr attack but tries by Dougie Steele converted by Climo and a Jono Crossan strike put the result beyond doubt at 31-9.

The lack of game time in the past weeks caught up with Ayr but they will have to crank up that performance level several notches for their clash at Millbrae on Saturday with Birmingham Solihull Bees (k/o 4pm). It is the third round of the British and Irish Cup and although the Midlands side will not pose quite the same threat as Doncaster and Rotherham in the previous two rounds, they will have to be on form to make it two wins from three in the competition.

Birmingham are bottom of the Championship table with a minus fifteen points total due to having had points deducted for the club going into administration earlier in the season but having had a reprieve, they would seem to be able to put it together when they have to. A 31-31 draw last month against the fifth in the table Cornish Pirates is evidence of that but the following week they went down 41-15 to Rotherham Titans who were at the wrong end of the scoreline when they came to Millbrae in the second round of the B and I Cup so form favours Ayr.

Saturdays visitors have an interesting coaching squad in Russell Earnshaw and Eugene Martin. Earnshaw is a former England Sevens international and when a coach quotes Victor Frankel's 'Man's Search for Meaning' in the Coaches Corner of the clubs website, you have to wonder what he can get up to with his team! Former Waikato star Martin will be remembered as a No10 with Hawks before going to coach at West before heading south of the border and will probably renew a few acquaintances at Millbrae.

Kenny Murray will finalise his squad later in the week but will certainly be without Grant Anderson who is currently with the Scotland Sevens squad who have been in New Zealand then Las Vegas on the latest two legs of the IRB Sevens series.

All five Ayr players who turned out for the victorious Scotland Club International side against France at Netherdale last Friday night will be available though and they deserve a special mention for their efforts. More of Damien Kelly in a moment but Gordon Reid, Scott Sutherland, Paul Burke and Jamie Hunter all came off the bench at a point when the powerful French side looked as though they might just repeat their narrow win in France last year.

Reid and Sutherland brought real grunt to the front five just when it was needed with great work in the tight and some big carries, Hunter sparked at No9 with one particularly fine break and Burke was just what the Scots defence needed even to the extent that he was lying prone when the final whistle went after a magnificent rearguard effort kept the French out in the closing stages for the Sots to win 13-9. He recovered to celebrate the win and also Kelly's award as man of the match after a typical barnstorming performance which will give on or two of the French nightmares for a few weeks to come. The award was richly deserved as the big lock along with Currie No8 Ross Weston tore into the French in fine style and one run of Kelly's down the wing gave even his own backs problems in keeping up (Watch it on www.scottishrugbytv.com).

All we can do now is appeal to the weather gods to stop tormenting us at weekends and let a run of games get the season back on track. Saturdays clash at Millbrae is the perfect way to start.