Ayr 23 Heriots 14

Murrayfield here we come!

That was the cry from the men in pink and black after winning a pulsating Scottish Hydro Premier Cup semi-final which went to the wire.

The Scottish champions against the Scottish Cup holders Heriots was always going to be a mouth-watering prospect but no one could have anticipated that both sides would put together a contest which would have graced any final.

It was hard, brutally at times, nerve wracking and exhausting-and that was only for the spectators! How some of the players were still on their feet after eighty plus minutes of a high octane contest was testament to their fitness and the constant ministrations of the physios.

Both Ayr and Heriots had represented Scotland in the British and Irish Cup with varying degrees of success but there can be no doubt that exposure to that level of rugby enabled both sides to come into the match with an attitude which exuded physicality, pace and ambition to a degree rarely seen in Scottish club rugby.

The first quarter saw two successful penalties to either side, Graham Wilson's eleven minute and twenty minute strikes bracketing two Frazier Climo successes and only a Climo penalty on the stroke of half time separated the sides at 9-3 and it would have been a foolish punter indeed who would have wagered on the outcome at that point.

The match opened with Climo putting Ayr into the attack zone with a slicing break but the chance disappeared with with a fumble then with ten minutes gone a dreadful Ayr line out on half way fell straight to Wullie Blacklock and the prop made the yards and when Ayr offended, Wilson stroked over the penalty. Ayr responded immediately and after fourteen minutes, Climo opened their account and although he missed a long shot two minutes later, the fact that he had another chance immediately showed just the sort of pressure Ayr were exerting on the Heriots defence. Straight from the restart, the visitors were awarded the penalty and Wilson tied the scores, a signal for them to up a gear.

Heriots pounded into the Ayr red zone, Blacklock and Chukwuma Osazuwa were held up as a try seemed imminent and the visitors had three scrums within sniffing distance of the Ayr line but Jamie Syme was thwarted in his efforts to cross then a colossal tackle by Jono Crossan won Ayr the breathing space of a penalty.

Lock Phil O'Connor and Gordon Reid had a frank exchange of views and the Heriots lock was lucky to stay on the field after taking a couple of smacks at Reid's head but the way he was ruthlessly ejected from the next ruck like a rag doll may have given ten minute in the bin some appeal. It then took a crunching tackle by Paul Burke on the dangerous Richard Mill to keep the Ayr line secure but on the break out, Mark Stewart, Stephen Adair and Damien Kelly took the Heriots defence apart and Chris Fusaro was forced to carry over for a crucial scrum to Ayr but Glen Tippett's pass into the hole narrowly eluded Jamie Hunter and the chance was gone.

As the half time whistle approached, Grant Anderson's scorching run into the Heriots twenty two forced Marc Teague to transgress earning a yellow card and as he trudged off he could only watch as Climo's penalty gave Ayr a 9-6 half time lead. Such was the intensity of the contest the players embraced the break with alacrity and the feeling was that whoever blinked first could well find themselves out of the cup.

With Teague still in the bin, Ayr had the numerical advantage going into the second half but Heriots struck after only a minute, Grant Anderson's run ending with the ball lost in contact and swift re-cycling saw full back Colin Goudie race away, chip ahead then hack over the Ayr line and with a startling turn of pace, get the touchdown. Wilson missed the kick but Heriots had nosed in front and it took and exceptional piece of play to bring Ayr back into the game. Hunter nipped clear and put Ross Curle away and the center held the ball up beautifuuly for Cammy Taylor to come in on a perfect angle and outpace the defence for the try. Climo conveted but the next ten minutes saw Ayr again under the cosh and only defence of the highest order kept a series of Heriots attacks at bay.

With quarter of an hour left, Tippett was yellow carded for killing the ball and from the penalty to the Ayr five meter line, the ball was worked into midfield and when the penalty came, Wilson slotted the kick to reduce the margin to two points. Sensing another score with Ayr a man down, the visitors again upped the pace with some sparkling handling and again it took heroic defence with Kelly playing a captain's part, to keep the line intact until finally a blistering Taylor burst again combining with Curle took Ayr back to Heriots territory and as the clock wound down, a penalty to the Heriots line gave Ayr the final advantage. The scrum from the lineout saw the Ayr pack come up with a shunt of colossal power and with Heriots in disarray, Climo burst through and his touchdown sealed Ayr's place in the cup final for the first time in the club's history.

The stand off converted and the whistle went for the end of a match which will join the canon of epic Millbrae contests which have displayed the very best in Scottish club rugby and was a credit to two sides who were totally drained after eighty minutes of nerve jangling intensity.

"They were more physical than we expected" admitted Ayr coach Kenny Murray " and Chris Fusaro had a great game for Heriots but we matched them in the pack and took our chances well. We can now look forward to a great day at Murrayfield on April 24th." Ayr will face Melrose who demolished Currie at the Greenyards 31-8 and it leaves Ayr still with a chance of the coveted league and cup double. It will also be sweet for Murray and assistant coach Peter Lavery who took Cartha to a semi-final against Watsonians a few seasons ago only to see their dreams of a finals day appearance disappear with a try for the Myreside men in the eighth minute of injury time.

Every Ayr player contributed mightily to a famous victory but before they can even contemplate walking onto the pitch at the national stadium, they have only six days in which to recover before they resume their Premier 1 league campaign against Hawks on Friday night at Old Anniesland. That is a huge challenge after what was such an emotionally and physically draining match and they will have to dig very deep indeed to get a result against Peter Wight's troops but with the buzz they will feel after the sort of performace they put in against Heriots, they know that they can do it.

Team

G ANderson; J McClung, R Curle, M Stewart, C Taylor; F Climo, J Hunter; G Reid, S Adair, S Fenwick, D Kelly, S Sutherland, J Crossan, P Burke, G Tippett Subs G Siwo, S Nimmo, G Sykes, D Steele