Fast start seals Ayr victory
This match was an emotional rollercoaster for fans of both sides. The result was in doubt until the final minutes when Ayr finally killed off the determined Greens, who came back from 26-points down at half-time to leave their hosts hanging on before Ayr found the late impetus to get the job done, writes Matt Vallance.
One doubts if this magnificent spectacle will change the closed minds at Murrayfield, to whom the BT Premiership is “not fit for purpose”, but, if that purpose is to entertain, well nobody at Millbrae felt short-changed in that department.
“Some of our first-half-combination play is as good as we have produced this season,” said Ayr coach Calum Forrester, whose home swansong this might have been.
“But we were our own worst enemies in the way we allowed Hawick to have a sniff of possible success. We made too many errors but we got there in the end and now our play-off ambitions remain in our own hands.”
Bruce Mcneil undertook media duties for Hawick – George Graham had to rush away at the end – and the veteran skipper was, like Forrester, caught between two stools.
“We shot ourselves in both feet in a crazy spell in the first half, yellow cards, giving away tries. But I was soproud of our fightback after the break. We needed an 80-minute performance and didn’t give it.”
Actually, Hawick did play their full part in the entertainment over the 80 minutes. For the record, Lewis Anderson, Grant Anderson, David Armstrong, James Armstrong in the first half, and Tommy Spinks, pictured, in the second, scored tries for Ayr, Scott Lyle adding four conversions. Hawick’s tries came on half-time from Dalton Redpath and from Redpath again and skipper Mcneil after the turn-round. Lee Armstrong goaled two out of three.
The Premiership now goes back into its box until 3 March, when Ayr finish their campaign at Myreside against Watsonians. The Millbrae men could still finish, second, third, fourth or fifth, depending on other results. Hawick, meanwhile, finish by entertaining league leaders Melrose, needing at least one point for safety.