Ayr v Melrose
AYR 63 MELROSE 34
SATURDAY 25TH NOVEMBER | MILLBRAE
Played on a still, bright, but cold afternoon, with evidence of frost in front of the stand, this high scoring National 1 match was played whilst others in the west of Scotland were postponed due to frost-bound pitches. With four minutes played Melrose won a penalty lineout in the left corner with Lachlan Gaddie creaming the ball off the top to Douglas Crawford who broke and fed to Craig Fairbairn, coming in on an angle. The flanker completed his run by scoring behind the posts with Struan Hutchison converting. Five minutes later Melrose won another penalty lineout on the left and after a series of plays Hutchison’s exquisitely directed cross-kick reached Matty Bertram, out wide on the right, with the winger scoring an unconverted try in the right corner. On 14 minutes Ayr put in several phases of play with Tom Lanni wriggling over for a try in the left corner. Scott Watson converted then, four minutes later, kicked a penalty. On 26 minutes, from a lineout with a huge rolling maul, Pete McCallum crashed over on the left for a try converted by Watson. In reply, three minutes later, Hutchison kicked a penalty. On the half hour Joe Stafford, using brute force and with a little help from his friends, powered over from a ruck for a try converted by Watson. From the re-start Rohan Pottie picked up the ball between his own 22 & 10m lines, shrugged off the Melrose defence, wrong footed Hutchison, who slipped on the wet grass, and raced unhindered to the posts for the Ayr bonus point try converted by Watson. Two minutes short of the interval, after a series of passes involving Gaddie and the Crawford brothers, Keiran Clark scored between the posts with Hutchison converting. From the re-start Melrose contrived to concede a penalty and from the resultant lineout rolling maul, in the left corner, Stafford scored and Watson converted.
Half time – Ayr 38 Melrose 22
Five minutes into the second half Angus North completed a penalty lineout rolling maul, on the right, with a try converted by Watson and, three minutes later, Pottie claimed an unconverted try in similar circumstances, but on the left. The Melrose bonus point try came at 58 minutes when Gaddie took a quick tap penalty and crossed for an unconverted try on the left. From poor Melrose defence, and with advantage being played, at 59 minutes, Lanni raced down the touch-line for an unconverted try in the left corner. Following a penalty lineout maul, eight minutes later, Stu Collier scored and Watson converted. Will Ferrie was next on the score-sheet when, with four minutes remaining, he took a quick tap penalty, bashed his way over, and scored with Hutchison converting. From the kick-off Melrose endeavoured to score again, but Watson managed to intercept a Melrose pass before racing to the posts to score and convert to end the match. This was a cracking game of rugby with 103 points scored which must exercise the minds of both defence coaches.
Ayr 69 Melrose 34
Ayr – Scott Watson, Tom Lanni, Harry Lynch, Angus North, Zac Howard, Danny McCluskey, Adam McCowan, Adam Prentice, Tom Martin, Caleb Rae, Joe Stafford, Angus Tr Leatherbarrow, R. Ainslie, Ben Frame. oop, Cameron Reece©, Rohan Pottie, Pete McCallum. Replacements – Stu Collier, Ruairidh Sayce, Morgan Leatherbarrow, A. Ainslie, Ben Frame
Melrose – Keiran Clark, Matty Bertram, Donald Crawford, Roly Brett, James Brown, Struan Hutchison, Douglas Crawford, Finn Barry, Hamish Derrick, Guerschom Mukendi, Thomas Brown, Angus Runciman©, Craig Fairbairn, Dylan Cockburn, Lachlan Gaddie. Replacements – Robbie Robinson, Jake Fairley, Will Ferrie, Harry Makowski, Elliot Ruthven.
Referee – Lee Fish.
Point scorers against Ayr:
