Ayr bounce back from costly run to master wild weather and topple Melrose
Ayr enjoyed some festive cheer by replacing Melrose at the top of the Tennent’s Premiership by toppling Melrose with a quality performance that defied conditions of severe cold and rain at The Greenyards, writes Alan Lorimer.
Cheer was certainly needed for the Millbrae men after defeats by Currie and Heriot’s and an indifferent display against Stirling. “We’ve had a few difficult weeks and pretty well everyone had written us off,” said a delighted Ayr coach Peter Murchie.
Against Melrose, Ayr dispelled any self doubt, producing an immense forward effort that allowed a talented backline to express itself.
“The forwards have had a lot of flak, so for them to win the battle against one of the strongest packs in the league was tremendous,” added Murchie.
For Melrose, coming into this match on the back of an all-too-easy win against Edinburgh Accies, the game slipped away as their performance unravelled.
“We just weren’t as accurate as we should have been. There were a lot of unforced errors. Some of the younger boys will have learnt a lot particularly from an old master like Frazier Climo,” said coach Rob Chrystie.
In what were exceptionally cruel conditions, Climo produced one of his best displays in an Ayr jersey.
Quite apart from scoring two tries and kicking three conversions and two penalty goals for a personal tally of 22 points, the Kiwi standoff repeatedly took the right options.
The beneficiaries of Climo’s excellent distribution were Ayr’s centres Danny Mccluskey and Paddy Kelly, the latter playing with a skillset that suggests he might gain more game time with his professional club, Glasgow Warriors.
Ayr led 18-5 at the break, 13 points from Climo and a try by Paddy Dewhirst. Climo then converted a Pat Macarthur touch down and his own score just before full time.
For Melrose Richard Ferguson, Patrickandersonandian Sim scored unconverted tries on a day that the Greenyards men succumbed to their winter solstice.