AS Ross Curle closed in on the line for his second and his team’s fourth try of the afternoon, which would put the hosts 26-17 ahead with 18 minutes to go, he half-turned mid-stride to look back and wag his finger triumphantly in the direction of Hugh Fraser – the hapless Heriot’s scrum-half whom he had just intercepted .

It was a pretty graceless gesture which Fraser, understandably, took objection to. There was a bit of niggle between the pair after the ball had been dotted down. More significantly, it suggested that the Ayr captain was now feeling pretty confident that victory was in the bag. He should have known better.

Heriot’s won the Premiership ‘Grand Final’ last year by scoring a try deep into injury-time after going through more than 20 phases of play to work the ball all the way up field from their own line. They won their play-off semi-final against Currie this year in similar circumstances, except this time it was a drop-goal from Gregor McNeish which clinched it. They have an impressive track record of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in the games which really matter, and they were not going to let this one slip past without putting up one hell of a fight.

It should be clarified that Curle was excellent on Saturday and his feistiness is a big part of what makes him such an effective player for Ayr, but, on this occasion, it might have been better to keep his powder dry until after the final whistle.

Heriot’s duly bounced back through a try from Charlie Simpson after a powerful surge up the left touchline by Liam Steele and, as the game moved into the final 10 minutes, you could sense an edginess beginning to infiltrate the home squad. The unthinkable was suddenly becoming a very real possibility. Having finished the regular season nine points clear at the top of the Premiership log, they were now in distinct danger of losing the title to the team that had ended up third.

A misthrow at a line-out near the halfway line by James Malcolm gifted Heriot’s possession again and they coolly worked the ball up to Ayr’s five yard line. A penalty was given against the hosts for handling in the ruck, Heriot’s kicked to the corner, and were awarded the penalty try when Pete McCallum came in from the side in a desperate attempt to stop his team being driven back over their own line for the third time in the match.

It wasn’t as dramatic as some of their other recent comebacks, but it was pretty impressive all the same and the significance of the result will mean that it holds a special place in the club’s folklore for years to come.

“This is massive. To win the league and cup double after winning the league last year is a huge achievement by the guys. It hasn’t been as easy this year for various reasons. As champions we were out there to be shot at and we had to do it without a few key players who had either moved on or were injured, so new guys have had to step into some pretty big shoes, but we’ve made it,” said Phil Smith, the delighted Heriot’s coach.

“There’s four guys that I know for definite are either retiring or moving abroad, but that’s the nature of the game. It’s a constant battle to get your next group together and trying to keep them together so we are in the process of doing that, and fingers crossed we can do it as well as we managed this season, in which case we’ll have another good crack at it,” he added.

By the end of the match, the Ayr players were engaged in a war of words with referee Graeme Wells and their supporters were incandescent with rage when two ruck penalties in the last five minutes went against them. In truth, neither decision was particularly contentious, and the home team’s head coach Calum Forester was the voice of reason when asked for his take.

“It’s hugely disappointing. We didn’t get any breaks today,” he diplomatically stated. “We played a lot of good rugby but then discipline let us down in key areas of the pitch – stupid penalties which allowed Heriot’s to kick to the corner and play to their strengths.”

“We’ve had an outstanding regular season campaign and the boys showed a lot of character between the two semi-final games a few weeks ago [when they turned a 13-20 defeat to Melrose into a 48-10 win the following Saturday], but today a few things didn’t go our way. We’ve just got to deal with that and move on.”

“Everybody is staying on [next season] apart from Andrew Dunlop, who is retiring after being a hugely influential member of the club both on and off the pitch during the last ten years; and Javan Sebastian, who is moving back down to Wales,” he added.

Ayr: G Anderson (H McPherson 21); J Bulumakau, R Curle, D McCluskey, C Gossman; F Climo, D Armstrong; G Hunter, J Malcolm, J Sebastian (D Rae 70), R McApline, S Sutherland, B Macpherson (A Dunlop 70), W Bordill, P McCallum.

Heriots: J Semple; C Simpson, L Steele, C Ferguson, J Rae (G Bryce 30); G McNeish, T Wilson (H Fraser 54); M Bouab (M McCallum 25), M Liness (N Cochrane 25), S Cessford, R Nimmo, J Turley, S Dewar, A Henderson (R van Heerden 70), J Hill.

Scorers –

Ayr: Try: Anderson, Curle 2, B Macpherson; Con: Climo 3

Heriot’s: Try: Dewar, Simpson 2, Cochrane, Penalty Try; Con: Semple 2.

Referee – G Wells