Murchie: I have aged a couple of years

Neither side came away happy about the way they played at Bridgehaugh; Stirling County because they were unable to close out a game which saw them leading by 10 points with five minutes to go, Ayr because they found themselves in that position and had no one to blame but themselves for what was certainly a sub- par performance.

Stirling coach Eddie Pollock was upset since, as he put it “We played well enough to dominate possession and upset their line out so that they were unable to base any plays from there.

“We should have been able to close out the game.”

The line out in particular was something which peeved Ayr coach Peter Murchie as he confirmed: “I wasn’t too impressed with our line out performance which was well below what we want to achieve and the players know that it is not the standard we expect.

“That is something we will certainly have to work on. I don’t want us to be in that position too often where I feel as though I have aged a couple of years in the final quarter!”

Yup, the line out and those SNAFUs have to be sorted, also the scrum instability, oh and the breakdown problems as well, all before the arrival of Heriots on Saturday which sees the first of a mouth- watering pre- Christmas double with the Goldenacre men intent on turning around that 3224 defeat in the capital in September.

Then where to finish 2018? Where else but the Greenyards and a clash against Melrose which could well decide who goes into the new year at the top of the Tennent’s Premiership.

One thing is for sure: Ayr will have to put in the work that on those areas that Eddie Pollock mentioned where they were second best at Bridghaugh otherwise they could be in trouble.