AYR stretched their lead at the top of the BT Premiership after a five-try 33-11 win at Selkirk, writes Elena Hogarth.

But the bottom-of-the-table hosts didn’t lie down and roll over in what was a stop-start encounter.
The visitors took the early lead thanks to a try by centre Robbie Fergusson, which was beautifully set up by stand-off Frazier Climo’s dummy.  The New Zealander was successful with the first of his three conversions.
Selkirk have yet to record a victory since being promoted from BT National 1 last season, when they were undefeated in the league.  The gulf between them and Ayr wasn’t entirely obvious in the early exchanges but they did seem tentative with ball in hand.
Bit by bit, though, they clawed their way into the match.  A yellow card for Ayr prop George Hunter – after a silly push that was milked for all it was worth by Selkirk flanker Ewan MacDougall – helped their cause.  Winger Rory Banks kicked the three points.  
They carefully and patiently worked their way into Ayr’s twenty-two and before too long, they were rewarded with an unconverted try by full-back Josh Welsh.
The match wasn’t exactly a great spectacle, with several stoppages for injuries and conferences between the referee and his assistants.  The scrums – later uncontested when Selkirk lost a prop too many – seemed to take an age to set, and coupled with handling errors from both teams, the game went through more troughs than peaks.
Selkirk led by four points at the resumption after a Banks’ penalty, and the crowd was getting very excited at the prospect of their men having the league leaders on the ropes.
Although Selkirk were trying to put Ayr under pressure, especially with their solid defence, the visitors didn’t make things easy for themselves.  They had a decent amount of possession but seemed unable to do anything with it.
Climo had a shot at goal but hit the post before Ayr found the on switch.  The forwards got into gear, with the back row of Blair Macpherson, Will Bordill and the ever-speedy Pete McCallum leading the way.  Full-back Grant Anderson danced his way round the defence and then used all his strength to get over the try-line.
Sadly for the home team, it was pretty much one-way traffic after that.  The stoic defence couldn’t cope with the style and flair of Ayr and could only watch as captain Ross Curle flew over twice and Fergusson got his brace too.
Ayr now lead the BT Premiership by six points after some surprising results in the other league games at the weekend.  They welcome fourth-placed Hawick to Millbrae this Saturday and the flinty Borderers will have one thing on their minds – a win.  If Ayr turn it on as they did in the second half against Selkirk, that will be a difficult task.
Ayr 2nd XV got a win on the road too, when they beat Edinburgh Accies 27-10 at Raeburn Place.  Millbrae RFC’s 49-12 victory over Uddingston keeps them at the top of the BT West Division 3, and there was a little bit of history made in the match as father and son Dava and Dean Courtney each scored a try.
Ayr Ladies joined the men as table toppers when their hard-fought 20-12 away win against fierce south-west rivals Stewartry Sirens saw them reach the zenith of the BT Women’s National League Division 1 for the first time.  Several of the teams have games in hand, so their match this Sunday against Broughton is vital to keep them at the top.  11 Ayr 33 – BT Premiership