IF the whole idea of Melrose playing Ayr on back-to-back Saturdays seems a bit bizarre then at least there will be some balance in the venues being different for round two.
Next Saturday , in the semi final of the play-offs, Ayr will face Melrose for a second time in sevens days but this time on their home turf at Millbrae.
Ayr went into their final Premiership match of the season at the Greenyards in third position, and only two points behind second-placed Melrose. Victory, albeit by the slenderest of margins meant Ayr leap-frogged the Borderers to secure a home semi final.
Understandably the Melrose treasurer was less than happy at the outcome but there may be slight comfort in the fact that the hallowed Greenyards turf will be spared a pounding a week before the prestigious Melrose Sevens. Every cloud , it seems.
As to rugby matters, both sides will view last Saturday's match as something of an intelligence-gathering exercise for this weekend's semi-final and will ensure that mistakes made in the dress rehearsal will be ironed out before the bigger test.
Arguably it will be Melrose who will conduct the more extensive search of their soul after a first half performance in which little seemed to go right and notably in the area of missed tackles. "The first half was just a car crash for us in terms of defence. They had three attacks and scored off two of them. We need to dust ourselves down. This was the last Premiership game. Next week is a semi final. " admitted the Melrose coach, John Dalziel.
If tackling was the achilles heel for Melrose then it was a vital weapon for Ayr. "Our defensive effort was immense. Melrose came out in the second half and threw everything at it. It was nail-biting at the end but we held our own." stated Calum Forrester, the Ayr coach.
Ayr will be pleased too at the accomplished performance of their 'home-grown' half back pairing of scrum half David Armstrong and stand-off Danny McCluskey. Armstrong looked the sharper of the two scrum halves on view while McCluskey, aside from scoring an impressive try for Ayr in the first half, guided the Ayr back line expertly.
As expected replacements Murray McConnell, James Eddie and Dougie Hall each made an impact off the bench but on the down side the Millbrae men lost both starting props, George Hunter and Fraser Watt to injury, resulting in uncontested scrums in the last quarter of the match.
The Millbrae men can also take much from attacking skills that produced two first half tries, the first coming from a missed tackle on Dean Kelbrick that allowed the centre to gallop into unguarded territory before sending Robbie Fergusson in for a fine score.
Then when McCluskey went round the Melrose number 8 Graham Dodds, the stand-off had the pace and strength to make it to the line. Crucially, as it was to prove, full back Grant Anderson converted both scores.
Melrose, for whom Richard Mill kicked a first half penalty goal, made changes at half time and this had the intended effect, the Borderers' pack soon dominating to produce tries for lock James Head and replacement flanker Hugh Blake, neither of them converted.
But thereafter Melrose inaccuracy and staunch Ayr defence meant there were no further scores, leaving the Millbrae men in a winning frame of mind going into this Saturday's semi final and Melrose supporters contemplating a 250 mile round trip that was not in their travel plans for the Easter weekend.
Scorers Melrose Tries Blake, Head Pens Mill Ayr Tries Fergusson McCluskey Cons Anderson (2)
Melrose : F Thomson; B Colvine, A Lockington, A Nagle, T Mua; R Mill, M McAndrew; N Beavon, R Ferguson, E McQuillin, J Head, L Carmichael, N Irvine-Hess, R Runciman, G Dodds Subs T Pearce, N Little, R Knott, H Blake, T Galbraith
Ayr : G Anderson; R Dalgleish, R Fergusson, D Kelbrick, C Taylor; D McCluskey, D Armstrong; G Hunter, F Scott, F Watt, R McAlpine, S Sutherland, A Dunlop, W Bordill, B MacPherson Subs D Hall, S Fenwick, J Eddie, K Gossman, M McConnell
Referee G Wells
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article