Stuart Fenwick’s men cruised to their ninth win in ten matches this afternoon at Millbrae with a 45-19 victory over league rivals Gala Rugby. With only two points separating the pair on the table many would have expected a tighter encounter, but a 26-0 run to start the match put Ayr in a favourable position early on.
Ayr have been in blistering form of late and started proceedings with confidence. Clearly willing to throw it wide, a handful of effective carries from full-back Scott Watson kept Gala guessing. Just ten minutes into the contest they were rewarded with their first score. Winger John Fulton swapped flanks to provide a man advantage and fed his counterpart Harry Lynch in the corner.
If their swashbuckling style of attack was spoiling the fans too much, they showed they were equally effective up front shortly after. A twelve-minute hat-trick for Stuart Collier all came from commanding rolling mauls. A smattering of Jamie Bova conversions made the 26-0 run in just over half an hour.
Despite the deficit and a yellow card, Gala began to rally back and enjoyed the bulk of territory in the final ten minutes of the half. A penalty on the stroke of 40 minutes gave them an opportunity to open their account from the kicking tee, but Harris Rutherford couldn’t connect.
Half-time: Ayr 26-0 Gala Rugby
The break came as a blessing to Gala, who came out a new team in the second half. An energetic start was rewarded when James Glendinning cut through the line unchallenged. With Watson covering wide there was no one home to stop the charging number eight. Harris Rutherford added the extras.
Despite their improvements Gala still didn’t have an answer for the rolling maul, and shortly after their score Stuart Collier burrowed over for number four.
Gala’s hooker Jack Easson responded in similar fashion with a rolling maul score of his own, but found himself in hot water moments later. With Collier back in his notorious position at the back of the maul, marching towards the line, Easson illegally infringed halting Collier of his fifth but gifting Ayr a penalty try. It also resulted in him picking up a second yellow and inevitable red. He’d spend the rest of the match watching from the side lines with his team a man down.
Despite the man advantage Gala were playing with confidence and managed another score shortly after. A looping pass from Harris Rutherford looked to land dead but Callum Pate was able to leap through the air and collect the ball before landing on the line. A missed conversion made the score 38-19.
With the clock dwindling away Ayr pulled out one last score for good measure. A trademark dummy and break from Scott Watson put Gala on the back foot. Watson managed to draw the final defender before shipping the ball off to Ross McCorkindale to finish the move. Bova made no mistake in front of the posts.
Full-time: Ayr RFC 45-19 Gala Rugby
With four tries which – dare we say it – could have been more, Stuart Collier was the unanimous vote for Player of the Match.