Super Stafford is two try hero
McDowall leads rousing reply
to the bin.
On the scoreboard, things didn’t go according to the visitors’ plan either with wing Gary Munro getting Hawick first on the scoresheet and although Craig Gossman’s try with Scott Lyle converting levelled the score, there was no sign of the dominance Ayr had built up the previous week against Heriot’s.
As the half progressed, neither side achieved the consistent momentum they needed to get on top but finally it was the home side who edged in front with lock Craig Hamilton crashing over and Ali Weir adding his second conversion.
It was a relief for Ayr to hear the half- time whistle and it was going to take an almighty re- think of their approach if they were going to pull this one out of the bag rather than continue unconvincingly, as they had done in similar situations in their opening matches.
Recover was exactly what they did, first winning the field position for an early Lyle penalty then immediately surging back downfield from the re- start to keep the pressure on.
That pressure, allied to the sort of discipline which had been missing in the first half, led to the opening they needed and Stafford McDowall needed no second asking as he speared the Hawick defence for Ayr’s second try.
Lyle converted and as Ayr’s dominance grew, so Hawick’s discipline deteriorated and sub Rory Sutherland evened up the yellow card count with Lyle’s penalty further punishing his misdemeanour.
Hawick were still only six points adrift at 20- 14 and it took all Ayr’s character to quell a fightback but again they ground out the field position, the appearance of George Hunter from the bench having a major influence, and as a result found themselves on the right side of a penalty try award for once.
Three tries on the board, time running out and the bonus point still eluding them, Ayr made one final foray and it was McDowall, who had been off the field for attention, who clinched the point which propelled Ayr into second spot in the table.
The big centre has grown into the midfield position remarkably since the beginning of the season and his two tries, the second with almost the final play of the game in what was an abrasive and desperately combative match, could prove invaluable to Ayr in their quest to retain their title.
Ayr have shown that they can play some superb rugby as they did against Heriot’s and also that they can grind out a win as they did at Hawick.
It is a useful range of tactics and should stand them in good stead in their upcoming two successive home games against Watsonians and Boroughmuir. RON EVANS