Saturday 5th December 2009

Boroughmuir 6 v 13 Ayr

Reporter: Simon Furnivall

The sight of Frazier Climo, Ayr’s star fly-half, scrambling a kick into touch at the end of the match to ensure that his side held onto the win was not one that many had anticipated before kick-off this afternoon. The perceived wisdom was that, with Boroughmuir sliding inexorably towards a relegation battle and Ayr chasing Currie hard at the opposite end of the table, the Millbrae side would enjoy a comfortable victory in the Meggetland mud, hauling all five points back west with them. However, it says much for Boroughmuir’s attitude and application that they had to scrap for every ball in the game and fight hard for their eventual victory, sealed by replacement scrum half AJ MacFarlane’s late try.

The attitude of the Boroughmuir players had been questioned in many quarters after successive poor performances culminated in a demoralising defeat against a fourteen-man Selkirk side. Those questions were emphatically answered today as time and again Boroughmuir bodies were put on the line in a concerted effort to stop their more illustrious opponents in their tracks.

Ayr did manage to cross the line twice, Stephen Manning’s finish on the right wing giving them a half time lead before MacFarlane appeared late on for a short range dart down the blindside, but the possession and territory that they controlled perhaps demanded more from them, only too often they met a green and blue wall, led by Greig Scott and Neale Patrick, both of whom put in an immense defensive shift.

What perhaps says most about the character that Boroughmuir showed throughout the game was that not one of their players were happy to take the defeat, feeling instead that, after Graeme Blackhall’s penalty had reduced the gap to 6-10 with less than ten minutes remaining, it was more a missed opportunity to make a real statement by claiming victory than a point gained where none were expected.

It was clear from the outset that Ayr had more confidence in their ranks than the home side, and that was before taking into account the two Glasgow professionals – Ed Kalman and Ruaridh Jackson – in their starting XV. Climo had control of the game from fly-half and regularly used his centres to run hard and fast at a weakened Boroughmuir midfield. They were finding real incision hard to come by, however, and their first opportunity didn’t come until more than ten minutes had passed when Climo’s short offload put flanker Paul Burke through a gap in the midfield and Manning was eventually brought down just short of the line by opposite number Tom Bury.

The home side were hugely benefitting from the return of Stephen Ruddick, the full back making full use of his booming right boot to clear the lines and claim good field position in the Ayr half. It was Ruddick’s first appearance after two months out injured and he was clearly eager (and able) to show just how much he has been missed.

Ayr were trying everything they could think of to find gaps in the Boroughmuir defence, and given ’Muir’s performance against West of Scotland recently, the rolling maul may well have been an area they had targeted, but twice they were stopped in their tracks from promising field position, forced to cough up the ball by strong home defence.

Boroughmuir did have their own moments of pressure, a strong run by Nick Fraser and an excellent chip and chase by Ruddick setting up the chance for Blackhall to take a shot at goal on twenty minutes, but the utility back pushed his long range attempt just right of the posts.

The home side’s back row – Mike Stalley, Joni Hare and Lynton Brinck – were putting plenty of pressure of the Ayr midfield, getting up quickly in defence and causing more mistakes than coach Kenny Murray would have been happy with. They did begin to find gaps as the half wore on, however, Climo scything through one and finding Burke in support, only for the flanker to be stopped by a crunching hit from Bury.

The opening score finally came for the visitors on thirty minutes when clean lineout ball just inside the Boroughmuir half provided a perfect platform from which to attack. First Mark Stewart powered through ’Muir’s midfield defence, and then Burke – who ran excellent support lines all day – linked with Climo, the fly-half then getting the ball out to Jackson. With the defence trying to scramble across, Jackson flicked a pass to Manning out of the back of his hand, and despite the best efforts of Ruddick, the winger was over the line for the score. Perhaps the saving grace was that they had been pushed so far wide and Climo couldn’t add the conversion from the touchline.

Any worry that the try would open the floodgates was soon put to rest as ’Muir got themselves on the board. After Ruddick had thumped the ball into Ayr’s twenty-two with another of his long kicks, Jackson aimed to return it with a short, cute chip which lock Scott Sutherland attempted to gather having not first retreated to an onside position. From thirty metres out and in front of the posts, Blackhall had no problem easing the resultant penalty between the uprights.

The score remained that way through the half time interval, but by then Boroughmuir had played two minutes with fourteen men – and so were facing a difficult start to the second period – after Blackhall had been shown a yellow card. The hosts had been enjoying their best bit of play of the game, hammering for a few minutes at the Ayr line before they coughed up possession on the right and Ayr countered with real pace. It looked like the visitors would be claiming their second try, but Blackhall made a superb tackle just short of his own line but was soon penalised for not rolling away, the referee probably correct in his judgement that it was cynical play on the Boroughmuir centre’s part and worthy of a ten minute rest.

Ayr were determined to make their numerical advantage pay in the early stages of the second half, particularly as Climo had missed the penalty awarded for Blackhall’s indiscretion. With Jackson and Climo alternating between full back and fly-half, they were attempting (and succeeding) to keep ’Muir pegged in their own half, working on the principal that their defence would not be able to hold out forever. They had not factored in, however, a superb spoiling performance at the breakdown from the home forwards and on more than one occasion Ayr got close only to be penalised, allowing Ruddick’s boot to clear the danger.

Scrum half Jamie Hunter must have thought he’d done enough at one point, a quick tap penalty and grubber kick over the line putting the travelling crowd on the edge of their seat, but superb cover defence enabled winger Rob Cairns to reach the loose ball first and get the touch down.

Ayr continued to flood forward even after Blackhall had returned to the fray, but the Boroughmuir defence still refused to buckle, and on the odd occasion it splintered, Ayr proved unable to take the chance, with first Calum Cusiter winning another race to touch down over his own line after a chip through and then Andy Dunlop knocking on underneath the posts as he tried to ground the ball – although had he done so then questions would have to have been asked as a knock on from Stewart just seconds earlier had gone unnoticed by the officials.

There was beginning to be a feeling, as Boroughmuir began to impose themselves more on the game as an attacking force, that perhaps it wasn’t going to be Ayr’s day, and that only grew when, with just over ten minutes remaining, Paul Burke was the second player shown a yellow card. The flanker, who otherwise had had an impressive day, hit Nick Fraser with a clearly high tackle just inside the Boroughmuir half and immediately a penalty was awarded. After referee and touch judge had conferred, Burke was called forth and shown a yellow card, which could well have been turned red had the officials taken a hard stance on the flanker’s conduct as he offered sarcastic applause to Ted Coutts for the touch judge’s intervention.

Boroughmuir needed to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak, but instead it was Ayr (and in particular AJ MacFarlane) who showed the calm, collected head as they attacked down the left via a series of pick and go drives. Eventually Glen Tippet’s powerful run got them close to the line, and MacFarlane took matters into his own hands, darting between Stuart McGee and Tom Bury to grab the score. Climo couldn’t add the conversion, leaving ’Muir still in possession of a potentially crucial bonus point.

’Muir, spurred on by a vociferous if sparse crowd, reacted well to the blow, and when Climo was caught by the brothers Hare in midfield and penalised for holding onto the ball, Blackhall curled an excellent penalty between the posts, narrowing the gap back down to four points.

They now had the opportunity to secure a winning try, but that was taken from them when McGee was caught by MacFarlane at the back of a scrum and, like Climo, penalised for holding onto the ball. Climo lined up the long range attempt, and this time he was accurate, his teammates delighted as his effort sailed between the uprights. A converted try for the home side would still have secured them a draw, and they threw everything they had into the remaining few minutes, but it proved an effort just too far, and deep into injury time the ball was coughed up and Climo scrambled away to hoof it well into touch, bringing with it the final whistle.

To judge this game upon the harsh reality of another defeat would be unfair to Boroughmuir, as today no question could be asked of their commitment to the cause. The point gained edged them ahead of West of Scotland and Selkirk in the table, and perhaps crucially one further ahead of rivals Watsonians.

By the admission of coach Fergus Pringle after the game, the squad have possibly been too aware of the importance of recent games against those around them in the table and subsequently put themselves under too much pressure; this afternoon they were freed up by the lack of expectation. And what was achieved today, even in defeat, was to set themselves a standard, as not every team they will face possesses the same quality as Ayr, and if the same level of commitment and performance is shown over the coming weeks, then there will be every chance that they can claim the points necessary to free themselves from the struggle at the bottom of the table.

Boroughmuir : Stephen Ruddick; Tom Bury: Graeme Blackhall, Mark Hare, Rob Cairns: Greg Cottrell, Calum Cusiter (c): Nick Fraser Bronson Ross, Freddie Lait: Greig Scott, Neale Patrick: Mike Stalley, Lynton Brinck, Joni Hare. Subs Used: Fergus Pringle, Euan Matheson, Stuart McGee, Redha Guedroudj - Not Used: Scott Wilson