Champions in the pink
Millbrae men hold out to claim title as fightback by hosts falls short. By Stuart Bathgate at The Greenyards
AFTER being denied at the death in last year’s BT Premiership final, Ayr triumphed in similar style yesterday to become Scottish champions for the third time.
Down to 14 men deep into stoppage time, after captain Pete McCallum had been sin-binned, the visitors had to defend a line-out as Melrose threatened to snatch a late win. The safe bet would have been to wait for the throw then try to stifle the drive, but lock Scott Sutherland rose magnificently to steal possession. Seconds later, the ball was bundled unceremoniously into touch and the celebrations began.
It was a slim but deserved victory for a team who had been at least the equals of their opponents in every department.
For their part, Melrose, who had home advantage thanks to having finished four points clear at the end of the regular season, had enough possession to win the game, but lacked the inspiration required.
They now know what it is like to lose two finals, having been pipped in 2015 by Heriot’s, the same club who defeated Ayr last year. “Melrose really tried to choke the life out of us in the second half,” Ayr coach Calum Forrester said. “That turnover at the line-out showed the experience Scott Sutherland brings to the squad.
“I think the match showed the professionalism both teams have. Melrose played a really clever game in the second half. Our boys defended really well.”
The visitors were dominant in the early stages, but it was Melrose who opened the scoring after quarter-of-an-hour when standoff Jason Baggott knocked over a penalty inside the 22 after Ayr had wandered offside.
Frazier Climo equalised with a penalty nearly 10 minutes later, but that was scant reward for a period in which the stand-off’s team had controlled. They should have gone ahead soon after that when, for once, slackness in defence let Stafford McDowall slip through. However, Melrose again scrambled men back in time to stop the score. Just short of the half-hour, another Climo penalty gave Ayr the lead, then the same player made it 9-3 on the brink of the break after being tackled late by Nick Beavon, but Ayr ought to have taken a double-figure lead into the second half, having been sharper and more inventive.
Melrose tried to reassert themselves at the start of the second half, but fell further behind after 55 minutes when Climo notched his fourth penalty. They might have responded immediately when Grant Runciman charged down a clearance and looked set to win the race to touch down, but the ball bounced awkwardly.
Baggott was then wide with a penalty from the Ayr 10-metre line, and it had become clear that the home team needed to change tactics or personnel to make an impact. They brought on Bruce Colvine with just over 20 minutes to go, and the scrum-half was soon able to inject the life into his team that they needed to get back into contention.
Melrose’s line-out drive had threatened all afternoon without delivering, but when Baggott kicked a penalty to touch they were able to set up good position. There was still a lot to do, and about a dozen phases to go through to draw Ayr into central defence. But the work was done efficiently, an overlap was set up on the left, and Ruaridh Knott provided the extra man to finish off the move.
Baggott’s missed conversion attempt left Melrose 12-8 behind with 10 minutes to go, and the home team continued to press. On the verge of injury time another penalty was kicked to touch, and thus began the long passage of play that culminated in that line-out seizure by Ayr. The same teams meet again at Murrayfield on Saturday in the BT Cup final, and, having won on hostile territory, Ayr have to be slight favourites on neutral ground.
However, Melrose know, as their coach, Robert Chrystie, pointed out, that on another day they could have won. “We had quite a few chances, we just didn’t take them,” he said. “We said before the game it was going to come down to small margins, and that’s exactly what happened.”