Glasgow Hawks 17 Ayr 32

One down-six to go, plus the small matter of a cup final.

That was how it looked after Ayr took to a crucial bonus point against Hawks at Old Anniesland on Friday night in a match which loomed large as their first Scottish Hydro Premier 1 league game since January 23rd.

Hawks were always going to be a tough prospect and Ayr were second best for parts of the game but sheer cussedness kept them going in the second forty minutes and led to three tries against the odds which clinched the bonus point.

The first quarter saw Ayr dominate possession and territory yet all they had to show against a well organised Hawks defence was a Frazier Climo penalty in eighteen minutes and the frustration was evident after a spell of eight phases close to the line came to nothing. That frustration was manifest when a loose pass found Hawks Robbie Hair who is one of the nippiest wings around and as he, well, hared off, all of eighty five yards for the try, the heads could easily have gone down.

Instead Ayr hit back immediately, Mark Stewart put Paul Burke through and the flanker was held up on the line but from the penalty, Climo restored the Ayr lead. Three minutes later, Jonny McClung made a dent down the wing, the ball was worked inside to Climo and his trademark pin point cross kick sat up sweetly for Grant Anderson to cruise in with Climo's conversion taking Ayr to 13-5 ahead.

Hawks then made what could have been a game changing substitution, Mike Adamson coming on for Marc Taylor and in the four minutes up to half time, the Scotland sevens ace had banged over two penalties to take the margin back to two points at the break.

After half time, Ayr made an equally significant substitution, skipper Damien Kelly swapping growling on the bench to prowling on the touchline which is where he was lurking to get on the end of a move set up by an Anderson thrust and barge over in the corner. Stuart Fenwick was yellow carded and, as Ayr had done in the ten minute absence of Hawks flanker Rory Hamilton in the first half, Hawks took full advantage. Solid defence kept the line intact but in an eight minute spell Adamson had three shots at goal, two connected and the margin was down to one point at 18-17.

Hawks scented a win and piled on the pressure but with twelve minutes remaining, they again saw yellow and that was the signal for Ayr to up their game. They swarmed on the Hawks line and Fenwick atoned for his earlier indiscretion with a try and Climo's conversion meant Hawks had to score twice to win. They didn't but Ayr did and again it was Kelly who was the man credited with the touch down after a rumble on the line for the vital fourth try and Stewart's conversion sealed a win which as Kenny Murray pointed out later, was the first time in his tenure that Ayr had taken a bonus from a win over Hawks.

Finally, it is interesting to see that among the semi-finalists in the SWALEC Cup, the premier Welsh cup competition, both of Ayr's Welsh opponents in the British and Irish Cup, Cardiff and Pontypridd, are there so Ayr's results against them simply confirm that their efforts in the cross border competition deserve a lot more credit that they received.