Monday, April 4, 2011

Heriot's 22 - 38 Ayr: Murray's men subdue spirited Heriot's to set up thrilling league finale - Scotsman.com Sport

"Now we've got Melrose and Currie and we need to win both. And if we win those games, we'll win the league," said Murray. "That's easier said than done, though, as they're both quality sides. We could also play Melrose back to back in the cup final and the league. But right now we're delighted with this win. We were poor in the first half, if I'm honest. We said at half-time that we needed to get on the front foot and put Heriot's under pressure. We did that and had a much better second half."

Indeed, Ayr turned at the break behind their hosts and had to improve to subdue a spirited Heriot's side. The home team had gone ahead when Graham Wilson chipped an early penalty, but Ayr's Mark Stewart hit back when he touched down. Glenn Bryce restored Heriot's lead with the first try of a hat-trick, with scrum-half Wilson adding the conversion.

Paul Burke put Ayr back on level terms with a score on the half-hour that Ross Curle goalled for a slender lead. Bryce bagged his second just before the break and to regain the lead, but they were outplayed after the break. Ayr dominated from the restart, with Damien Kelly bulling his way over for a try that Curle converted.

Kelly used his strength to batter through for his second try and ensure the bonus point in 52 minutes, in the process opening a gap Heriot's never looked like closing. A huge effort by the Ayr forwards brought a try for prop Gordon Sykes, Curle again converting. Bryce bagged his third near the end, but Ayr got their just reward with the last play when Burke burst through to score his second try. Kelly nudged the conversion.

Scorers: Heriot's - Tries: G Bryce (3); Cons: Wilson (2); Pen: Wilson. Ayr - Tries: Stewart, Burke (2), Kelly (2), Sykes; Cons: Curle (3), Kelly.

Heriot's: C Goudie; G Bryce, M Learmonth, J Kohn, M Nimmo; C Ferguson, G Wilson; L Seydak, S Dewar, A Spence, J Hill, M Reid, G Cameron, K Bryce, A Dymock. Subs: S Mustard, N Meikle, C Osazuwa, J Syme, G Walker.

Ayr: D Steele; S Manning, M Bennett, M Stewart, C Taylor; R Curle, A J McFarlane; A Dunlop, P Burke, R Colhoun, S Sutherland, D Kelly, G Sykes, S Adair, G Reid. Subs: A Kelly, A McFarlane, D Stewart, G Tippett, R McCallum.

Referee: J Meredith.

Source: http://sport.scotsman.com

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