Ayr 21 Pontypridd 22

(highlights on www.scottishrugbytv.com)

It was an awful sense of deja vu because, just as their international counterparts had done two weeks ago, Pontypridd got the better of Scots opposition with the last play of the game in a pulsating British and Irish Cup tie at Millbrae.

In the first half, Ayr had more chances to score than Tiger Woods and Ashley Cole on a weekend bender but despite all the possession and territory in the first half with the icy wind at their backs they failed to to put Pontypridd away as they blew opportunity after opportunity and went in only 14-7 ahead.

Frazier Climo, current top scorer in the British and Irish Cup, did capitalise on Ayr's dominance in the first quarter with three penalties then, despite having created several clear cut chances, they had to scramble for a loose ball on the Ponty line for flanker Paul Burke to claim the score with six minutes left to the break.

That would have been a comfortable enough lead to take in at half time although it hardly reflected Ayr's control of the game. However in only their second foray into the Ayr red zone in the final minute of the half, a neatly executed Ponty line out move six meters out caught Ayr napping for lock Grant Harrington to crash over with Aaron Bramwell converting from wide out. What could easily have been a twenty plus point lead for Ayr was only seven and with the wind behind them in the second half it was fair to surmise that Pontypridd had weathered the storm and would come out fired up for the second forty.

Correct.They were first on the board with Bramwell landing an early penalty but Ayr retaliated and a superb Climo - Burke combo took Ayr to inches from the line but it developed into a guddle before Andy Wilson pounced for the try.

Climo converted but Ponty were not to be denied and five minutes later a scorching Gavin Dacey break burst the Ayr defence and the visitors skipper put wing Owen Williams away for their first try. Bramwell missed the conversion but the stage was set for a tense final quarter with both sides looking for that edge which would settle a now finely poised contest.

Just when looked as though Ayr would hold out they lost another crucial lineout, Ponty hammered into the Ayr twenty two, built up a head of steam and the final play saw the ball whipped out to Kristian Ballar who scythed through the Ayr defence for the try. The final act of the drama came as Ballar launched the conversion of his own score and watched as it broke the Ayr hearts and had the Pontypridd support in ecstasy, hitting the post and seeming to take an age to drop inches over the bar to clinch the win.

Ayr really have only themselves to blame for not making it three wins from four starts in the British and Irish Cup, looking back on missed chances caused at times by hesitant, indecisive or overelaborate plays, a naivity which led to too many short chips and fancy offloads rather than a more basic approach which ultimately is what won Pontypridd the game. That and doing serious damage they did to the Ayr line out from where they scored their first try and provided the source for the winning score.

It was fifty three minutes into the game before Glen Tippett made an appearance and although Andy Dunlop had made a good fist of the No8 slot, the back row combination with Burke and Jonno Crossan was a bit lightweight and Tippet's arrival for Crossan provided a ballast at the back of a scrum which at times slewed alarmingly backwards. The injury in thirty three minutes to AJ MacFarlane was another reason why Tippett's absence was strange since he would have been able to offer more protection to Jamie Hunter who reverted from stand of to scrum half and did well but does not quite have MacFarlane's relish for the close quarter battles this match called for.

Ayr certainly were taught a lesson on the other side of the touchline as well with the Pontypridd support, numbering over four hundred, outsang(naturally!), out-shouted and overwhelmed an Ayr support surprisingly small in numbers who, while never falling to the Goldenacre Syndrome, were nowhere near as vociferous as they can be and it was sad to see Paul Burke rightly running back from Andy Wilson's try and imploring the Ayr support to get behind them.

Jock Craig, Ayr's Director of Rugby, was in no doubt that the game had been here for the winning "It was a physical hard game and it was like watching a Hawick side of old. We certainly didn't take our chances in the first half when we could have been out of sight and we paid for it in the end. They came back well and played for the eighty minutes and we gave away a soft try to lose the game."

Ayr Assistant coach Peter Laverie was stunned by the last minute turnaround. "That result is a huge disappointment after the way we played. We were excellent in the first half but we didn't finish off some great rugby with points. In the second half we looked for territory to stay in their danger zone but we didn't control the game well enough to do that because the set piece didn't give us the possession we needed. We have to learn from that result very quickly for the match at Cardiff next week."

Pontypridd Assistant Coach Dale MacIntosh admitted that Ponty had been under the cosh. "We were never in the game in the first half and Ayr used their possession really well and their kicking kept us under pressure although if they had taken their chances it would have been difficult for us to come back. In the second half we started to get the possession we needed to get back into the game and all credit to the lads they played to the end to get the result in a match in which either side could have claimed the win."

Pontypridd skipper Gavin Dacey was delighted when the final whistle went. "We really thought that we were out of it at half time but we used the wind well in the second half. This squad has great self belief and we knew that if we kept the ball in the final stages then the chances would come but it was very close in the end but we played right to the final whistle.

Ayr now travel to Cardiff on Saturday with only honour at stake but needing a good performance to show that the Scottish champions can live with the best from the Principality both on their own patch and at the daunting Arms Park venue.

Finally, after the match and in the Millbrae clubhouse, any one of a Unionist tendency would have been horrified as Tommy Bowe crossed in the final minutes to give Ireland the try which beat England and Welsh and Scottish voices were raised as one and nealy took the clubhouse roof off. Go figure!


D Steele; J McClung, R Curle, F Climo, C Taylor; J Hunter, AJ MacFarlane ; G Reid, S Fenwick, G Sykes, D Kelly, S Sutherland, J Crossan, P Burke, A Dunlop Subs S Adair, G Strain, D MacLeod, G Tippett, B McPherson, A Wilson, S Manning

Referee S Lee (RFU)