The Ayrshire Bulls fell 26-15 on the road to Heriots Rugby in their final regular season match, but still remain in the mix for the FOSROC Super6 playoffs. The loss rules out the possibility of a favourable home semi-final, but Peter Murchie’s men are still in the hunt for silverware.

At one point it was all to play for, with a 12-10 lead Heriots only bumper. At final whistle a frustrated Peter Murchie expressed his disappointment not to kick on from there: “We had our chances… but we just got too many of the little momentum swings go against us. A lot of their scores were pretty soft from our perspective. “We have to make a team work harder for their points”. There were areas of the game to be pleased about, but the Bulls failed to convert them into points: “Our maul was dominant, our scrum was dominant, but we didn’t get the rewards off that and capitalise”. The hosts shot out of the blocks and enjoyed the first half hour camped deep in Bulls’ territory. Their breakthrough came after twenty minutes. Despite a strong scrum the ball bundled away from Bulls’ hands at the base allowing Jason Hill to collect and canter clear unscathed. Ross Jones converted to put the hosts up by seven. Despite a surge from Peter Murchie’s men to close the half they couldn’t get over the line. Half-time: Heriots Rugby 7-0 Ayrshire Bulls. Heriots stretched the lead on 47 minutes with another opportunistic score. A dropped ball in the midfield release the hosts, with Callum Marshall finishing off a string of passes to dot down. The second try came as a wakeup call for Peter Murchie’s men, who sprung into life and started to look dangerous. Territory turned to points three minutes later, with Ross Thompson converting from the tee from a deliberate knock-on by Hill – he was shown yellow for the infringement. The Bulls continued to control proceedings and narrowed the gap after an hour. Sam Kitchen was first to get over, but Heriots did well to hold the ball up. From the resulting scrum Blair Macpherson made no mistake in his effort. Thompson converted to make it a 12-10 ball game. As the game marched into its’ final stage it was neck-in-neck before a lapse in concentration resulted in a flurry of Heriots scores. Two tries three minutes apart all but sealed the result, with the Bulls staring down a 26-10 deficit. Playing for pride Hooker Alex McGuire managed to end the afternoon on a high for the Bulls, scoring from a maul to narrow the margin. Full time: Heriots Rugby 26-15 Ayrshire Bulls.Heriots flanker Jack McLean was named FOSROC Man of the Match. The Ayrshire Bulls now have a three-week window before they travel for a play-off semi-final. With Watsonians v Southern Knights postponed due to weather they’ll have to wait to find out where they are headed.