Published: Tuesday, 25th March, 2008 10:00am

Ayr swoop to win over Hawks

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Ayr Rugby 14 Hawks 5

FIRST things first-Ayr finally got their Scottish Hydro Electric fifth round tie out of the way last Tuesday and a workmanlike display saw them go into round six with a 36-15 scoreline against Cartha Queens Park at Dumbreck.

The rustiness was obvious in both sides play but tries from Jeff Wilson with two, AJ McFarlane, Kenny Diffenthal, Damien Kelly and Andy Wilson with Diffenthal slotting two conversions and Boris Fournials one saw Ayr through but it was a stuffy display from Cartha and the workout did them no harm since they went to Kelso on Saturday and threw themselves a Premier Two relegation lifeline with a 22-20 win.

On then to Millbrae and the visit of Hawks with the incentive for Ayr, apart from moving up in the Premier One top six, was to beat the Old Anniesland crew twice in one season for the first time.

Hawks pitched up with a former international, a former A international and a current A international in their backs in Rory Kerr, Kenny Sinclair and Max Evans. Kerr and Evans it was who posed the early threat down the right wing and Evans, who had celebrated his second try against Ireland A at Perth a few weeks ago with a cartwheel and back flip found himself head over heels again.

This time though it was as a result of the clap of doom tackling from Ayr wing Flo Marin who gave the Hawks wing a torrid time and with that channel drying up, Hawks had to look elsewhere for points.

Ayr opened the scoring with a Diffenthal penalty in six minutes after nifty lead up work by Kelly, Pat MacArthur and Glen Tippet and almost went further ahead after a scorching break by Colin White but from the turnover, Hawks countered, the Kerr and Evans combo was again halted but when play was swung left, Ayr were short of defenders leaving Marc Davids to go over in the corner.

Hawks still made the better chances as the half progressed but Ayr"s defence was solid, full back Richard McCallum hit some booming clearances and as the break approached, Ayr visibly grew in confidence, Andy Wilson halted just short and a surge by the pack interrupted inconveniently by the half time whistle.

A quick tap penalty and a thundering Kelly charge supported by White and Tippett took Ayr into the Hawks red zone where they remained with only the occasional foray taking Hawks out of their twenty two but for most of the second forty, the Ayr half was a foreign country. Into the final quarter, McFarlane sniped almost to the line, Ayr kept up the pressure and after a Julien Montoro break, the ball was swung right, McCallum linked with White who put Tippett bursting through two try line tackles for the score.

Diffenthal missed with the wide conversion but made amends five minutes later with a beauty of a snap drop goal to take Ayr 11-5 ahead and with McFarlane"s kicks probing, Hawks offended, Diffenthal nailed the penalty and although Hawks did have a last flurry, the final word went to Ayr as Montoro hacked ahead to the Hawks line only to be denied the try.

How did a 14-5 win and a double over Hawks strike Ayr coach Craig Redpath?

He said: 'I am delighted with that performance. We are trying to change our style and you could see that today and if we had taken some of the half chances we created we could have been out of sight. We got stronger as the game went on and credit to Hawks for the way they defended but the way we dominated the second half was due to some great work by the forwards and support by the backs.'

Ayr deserved it on that second half performance admitted Hawks coach David Wilson, concerned that his side are, mathematically at least, still on the fringe of the relegation zone as the side who will join Dundee in Premier 2 next season. Wilson picked out Kelly and Tippett as the men who had given Ayr their momentum and therein lies a story itself.

Kelly took a knock on Tuesday night against Cartha, didn"t train on Thursday and was doubtful until an hour before kick off.

Yet he played, had an immense game and was indeed a major part of Ayr"s fine second half display, scattering Hawks defenders like chaff as they tried in vain to stifle his gallops. The rest of the pack however were not slow to follow Kelly"s lead, props Ewen Logan and Gordon Reid solid in the set piece and romping in the loose like the young thing Reid is and Logan looked like with Pat MacArthur at hooker again everywhere. Scott Sutherland and Jeff Wilson dominated the line out and Colin White showed that he was back to full fitness with as good a game as he has had in an Ayr jersey.

Off the back of the scrum and in the loose Tippett was immense, combining with McFarlane to give Diffenthal the time and space to run the second half while the midfield of Montoro and Fournials were rasping defenders with an eye for a half break with Wilson and Marin policing the danger men, Evans and Davids, out of the game. At full back Richard McCallum was solid under the high ball, put in some enormous touch finders and showed an assurance going forward which augers well for the youngsters future.

Off to Dundee then for the penultimate league match on saturday then the re-scheduled cup round six tie against Currie the following week at Millbrae with a home tie against Heriots awaiting the winners.

After a seemingly endless lull, there is suddenly a real buzz again around Millbrae with a top three place now again a possibility and the prospect of a cup run that could end- well who knows where - but we can dream.

Team R McCallum; A Wilson, J Montoro, B Fournials, F Marin; K Diffental, AJ McFarlane; G Reid, P MacArthur, S Fenwick, D Kelly, S Sutherland, C White, J Wilson, G Tippett Subs E Logan(for Fenwick in 25), F McKinnon, J Rae, C Taylor, R Holland.