AYR 12 CURRIE CHIEFTAINS 14

The broadest smile amongst a happy Currie party postmatch was on the face of Richie Vernon, who played for an hour – his first action in nearly ten months, writes Matt Vallance.

“I was blowing a bit and had almost forgotten how to play No 8, but I was just happy to get out there and play my part in a good win after so long on the sidelines,” said the Glasgow and Scotland man.

But it was another Warrior, Adam Hastings, who stood out in a Currie win, which was more emphatic than the two-point margin might indicate. He kicked beautifully from hand and gave the dangerous Currie backs lots of running opportunities as he turned Charlie Shiel’s slick, but occasionally erratic service into useful attacking ball.

Ayr defended superbly and were dominant at the set pieces. But coach Calum Forrester said: “We didn’t take care of the ball well enough. We made a lot of mistakes and our discipline was poor – it was a really bad day.”

The ease with which the Ayr pack drove over for George Stokes’ early converted try was worrying for Currie. But they then took charge and, helped by yellow cards for Grant Anderson and Steven Longwell, which had Ayr playing with 13 men for five minutes, they dominated territory, scoring tries through Shiel and Robbie Nelson to lead 14-7 at the break.

Ayr’s Robbie Smith scored a second try off a driven maul but Scott Lyle’s narrow failures to kick this and a later penalty proved costly, although Jamie Forbes, having converted both Currie tries, missed a late penalty sitter which would have made the final scoreline more reflective of the play.

Ayr are clearly missing halfbacks David Armstrong and Frazier Climo at the moment. Both are due back in January.