AFTER being denied at the death in last year’s BT Premiership final, Ayr triumphed in similar style yesterday to become Scottish champions for the third time.

Down to 14 men deep into stoppage time after captain Pete McCallum had been sinbinned, the visitors had to defend a lineout as Melrose threatened to snatch a late win. The safe bet would have been to wait for the throw then try to stifle the drive, but lock Scott Sutherland rose magnificently to steal possession. Seconds later, the ball was bundled unceremoniously into touch and the celebrations began.

It was a slim but wholly deserved victory for a team who had been at least the equals of their opponents in every department of the game. For their part, Melrose, who had home advantage thanks to having finished four points clear at the end of the regular season, had enough possession to win the game, but lacked the inspiration required. They now know what it is like to lose two finals, having been pipped in 2015 by Heriot’s, the same club who defeated Ayr last year.

“Melrose really tried to choke the life out of us in the second half,” Ayr coach Calum Forrester said. “That turnover at the lineout showed the experience Scott Sutherland brings to the squad.

“I think the match showed the professionalism that both teams have. Melrose played a really clever game in the second half: our boys defended really well.”

Playing with the breeze at their backs in the first half, Ayr had an early chance to score when McCallum made a good break off the back of the first scrum, but he was bundled into touch just short of the try line. The visitors were the dominant side in the early stages, but it was Melrose who opened the scoring after quarter of an hour when stand-off Jason Baggott knocked over a penalty inside the 22 after Ayr had wandered offside.

Frazier Climo equalised with a penalty nearly 10 minutes later, but that was scant reward for a period which the stand-off’s team had controlled. They should have gone ahead soon after that when, for once, slackness in defence let Stafford McDowall slip through, but Melrose again scrambled men back in time to stop the score. Just short of the half-hour, another Climo penalty gave Ayr the lead, then the stand-off made it 9-3 on the brink of the break after being tackled late by Nick Beavon, but Ayr ought to have taken a double-figures lead into the second half, having been sharper and more inventive.

Melrose tried to reassert themselves at the start of the second half, but they fell further behind after 55 minutes when Climo notched his fourth penalty. They might have responded immediately when Grant Runciman charged down a clearance and looked set to win the race to touch down, but the ball bounced awkwardly for the openside and Ayr were able to recover it.

Baggott was then wide with a penalty from the Ayr 10-metre line, and it had become clear that the home team needed to change tactics or personnel to make an impact. They brought Bruce Colvine off the bench with just over 20 minutes to go, and the scrum-half was soon able to inject the life into his team that they needed to get back into contention.

Melrose’s lineout drive had threatened all afternoon without really delivering, but when Baggott kicked a penalty to touch they were able to set up good position, There was still a lot of work to do, and about a dozen phases to go through to draw Ayr into central defence. But the work was done efficiently, an overlap was set up on the left, and Ruaridh Knott provided the extra man to finish off the move.

Baggott’s missed conversion attempt left Melrose 8-12 behind with 10 minutes to go, and the home team continued to press. On the verge of injury time another penalty was kicked to touch, and thus began the long passage of play that culminated in that lineout seizure by Ayr.

The same teams meet again at Murrayfield on Saturday in the BT Cup final, and, having won on hostile territory, Ayr have to be slight favourites on neutral ground. But Melrose, as their coach, Robert Chrystie, pointed out, know that on another day they could have won.

“We had quite a few chances - we just didn’t take them,” he said. “We said before the game it was going to come down to small margins, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Scorers: Melrose: Try: Knott. Pen: Baggott.

Ayr: Pens: Climo 4.

Melrose: F Thomson; A Lockington (G Taylor 29), N Godsmark, C Jackson, S Pecquer; J Baggott, M McAndrew (B Colvine 58); J Bhatti (D Elkington 66), R Anderson, R McLeod (N Beavon 26), J Head (A Grieve 58), R Knott, N Irvine-Hess, G Runciman, I Moody. Unused substitutes: C MacKay, P Eccles.

Ayr: G Anderson; D McCluskey (D Young 80), A Russell, S McDowall, C Gossman; F Climo, D Armstrong; G Hunter (J Sears-Duru 78), L Anderson, S Longwell (A Prentice 70), R McAlpine (G Henry 69), S Sutherland, B Macpherson, W Bordill, P McCallum. Unused substitutes: H Warr, J Bova, R Dalgleish.

Referee: M Adamson.