THE Scottish club rugby season doesn’t end until April but its top flight only has four league games to go, and for Ayr and practically every team in the BT Premiership, they are all must-win, writes Elena Hogarth.

With fierce rivals Melrose currently five points ahead of Ayr at the top of the table and equally as fierce rivals Glasgow Hawks just three points behind them in third place, the Millbrae side must beat Boroughmuir, Stirling County, Hawks and Watsonians to hold on to the second spot and secure a home semi-final play-off.

That’s all supposing Melrose beat their final four opponents. The Borders team may be playing a slick, controlled kind of rugby this season, but they will come up against, amongst others, Heriot’s who, as defending champions, will be desperate to get into the top four to make the play-offs, and Hawick, who will be fighting to avoid relegation.

The latter will be focusing all their efforts on leap-frogging Gala to get out of the drop zone and try and catch up Watsonians, to make sure they are well away from the possibility of having to face a team from BT National 1 in a relegation/promotion play-off.

One team will go down, and with just a few points separating the bottom teams, Boroughmuir could also find themselves in trouble. Which brings us back to Ayr. The men in pink and black may be at the top of tree but there are banana skins afoot and they won’t want to slip on any of them.

And while all this is going on in the top flight, BT National 1’s Marr are in with the very real chance of making it two South Ayrshire teams in the BT Premiership in 2017/18.

While Ayr had no BT Premiership fixture last Saturday, there was a distinct pink and black hue to the dark blue of Glasgow Warriors, as a third of the match-day squad which took on Cardiff Blues in the Pro12 at Scotstoun had, at one time or another, all played for Ayr, five of them this season. Warriors enjoyed a 29-15 victory against Cardiff Blues.

Ayr Ladies have settled into life in the BT Premier League, and as it draws to a close, they can take satisfaction from having fought their way into the top four. Their latest game on Sunday saw them beat Cartha Queens Park 29-14 on a soggy day on the south side of Glasgow.

Tries by Claire Law, Rachel Morrison and Milissa Montague, with a brace of scores by Julie David, and two conversions by Catherine Shennan, saw them overcome a determined Cartha and a muddy pitch.

Millbrae RFC were beaten by just a point in BT West 2, when Paisley triumphed 25-24.

It’s back to a full schedule of fixtures this weekend, as Ayr 1st and 2nd XVs take on their Boroughmuir counterparts at Millbrae (3pm and 2pm kick-offs respectively), Millbrae RFC play Clydebank (2pm), and Ayr-Wellington U18s host Hawick (1.30pm) at Doonside in the National Youth League Cup quarter-finals. On Sunday, Ayr Ladies are away to Stirling County (ko 2pm).