Ayr can take tight grip on second top

That bonus point win at Hawick takes Ayr into second place in the BT Premiership ahead of Currie on differential but still 12 points behind an imperious Melrose who have gone eight games undefeated with a bonus point from each, giving them a maximum 40 points.

As has been shown in the past, however, when it comes down to the crunch, there are only two games which matter – the play- offs – and to get in that mix you have to be in the top four.

That second spot is a position Ayr have to consolidate and they have that opportunity in the next two weeks with seventh top Watsonians and eighth in the table Boroughmuir both at Millbrae.

Coach Calum Forrester was philosophical about the nature of the win, rightly pointing out that even if the bonus point comes at the final play and not in the earlier stages as happened against Heriot’s, the scoreboard is one statistic which doesn’t lie.

He said: “With Hawick coming off a bad defeat and George Graham taking charge, we knew it was going to be a tough one.

“We performed in the first half the way we did in our opening games and that wasn’t good enough but we had a much more clinical edge to our game in the second half.

“We allowed them to dictate the game in the first half but we turned it around after the break and got ourselves into a commanding position. I was really pleased with the way we established control and played to the end to clinch the bonus point.”