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September 10, 2018
Ayr 30 pts (t 4, c 2, p g 2) v Currie Chieftains 17 pts (t 2 c 2 p g 1)
When the Malleny team analyse this match and look at the percentages, particularly possession and territory, they will soon realise that for most of the game they were equal, if not ahead of their very efficient opponents. The difference was Currie’s inability to convert promising opportunities into points, especially in the first half. This was not, however, a problem for Ayr, who made the most of their visits into the Chieftains’ red-zone. Having said this, it was a good contest and the visitors deserved at least a consolation losing bonus point for their efforts.
It was a wet drive to the west coast, but an hour before kick-off the clouds drifted away, and warm sunshine had spectators removing jackets; there would not be a repeat of the mud bath that graced our last visit to Millbrae. After some initial jousting, Ayr started to go through the phases and worked their way into the Chieftains’ 22. Currie were defending well, but with only 5 minutes on the clock the pressure was mounting. Centre, Paddy Kelly bounced off several tacklers, pumped his legs and stretched for the line; Frazier Climo converted.
Gregor Hunter slotted a kick into the opposition 22 to set up a series of Currie attacks that had Ayr struggling to keep their line intact. Fraser Watt finally burrowed over for a try that Gregor Hunter converted. From this point until almost halftime, the visitors held centre stage. Even when Currie had Steven Hamilton yellow carded for a deliberate knock-down, Ayr made little progress; their lineout was a shambles and Thomas Gordon made the most of any loose ball which let Currie dictate terms. Joe Reynolds and Charlie Shiel also made exciting breaks, but they were well policed by the strong Ayr defence. Unfortunately for all their efforts, deep inside the Ayr 22, Currie could only glean a Gregor Hunter penalty goal; a clever short lineout throw, and drive for the line, should have produced a try. Although the Currie scrum was matching the heavier Ayr pack, it was quite a surprise when the visitors opted for a penalty scrum. A confident move that unfortunately mis-fired and put a spring in the opposition’s step. On the stroke of halftime Ayr sniffed a chance as play moved into the visitors’ 22. A spirited attack with slick passing was matched by tremendous tackling from the visitors, but a clever angled run from Kyle Rowe wrong-footed the Chieftains defence, giving him a clear passage to the line. Frazier Climo’s easy conversion gave Ayr a slender halftime lead.
Halftime score – Ayr 14 pts, Currie Chieftains 10 pts
The game resumed in similar fashion to that of the first half, with both teams giving the ball plenty of air, but the influence of stand-off Climo was becoming evident. His powerful boot pinned Currie back and it was now the visitors’ turn to start having problems with their lineout. A loose ball was snapped up and traversed the Ayr backline; Currie’s defence was under pressure. Some ferocious classic tackling held things together, but when the ball was expected to go wide, lock forward David Corbenici squeezed between two defenders for what was a rather soft-looking try, considering the defensive effort preceding it. The score was not converted, but when Frazier Climo added a penalty goal a few minutes later, it looked like the Chieftains were facing an uphill struggle.
Gregor Hunter’s positional kicking and flawless handling kept Currie moving forward. Mid-way through the half, Joe Reynolds made a tremendous break that had Ayr rattled; the ball glided through the back division to set Scott McGinley on course for the corner flag; as he neared the line, brushing aside tacklers, the ball slipped from his grasp and Ayr cleared the threat. With the crowd behind them the home team clinically rumbled back to the Currie end looking for more points. A tremendous passage of inter-passing between Kyle Rowe and Paddy Kelly down the right touchline, ended with a score under the posts. Frazier Climo converted Kelly’s try and added another penalty goal for a high tackle; the unlucky Rhys Davies was dispatched to the sinbin. With fifteen minutes remaining, the match was slowly edging out of the Chieftains’ reach and a sizeable defeat looked ominous. To their credit the visitors did not capitulate and appeared committed to securing a losing bonus point, attacking at every opportunity. Some sloppy Ayr handling was punished when the alert Robbie Nelson hacked a loose ball 30 metres into space; Ben Robins sprinted forward, and, in the confusion, Ayr again fumbled the ball. Robbie Nelson’s excellent pickup and race to the posts gave Gregor Hunter a simple conversion.
The remaining 10 minutes saw some excellent end-to-end rugby with Ayr trying to exert authority and add to their score, and the Chieftains’ dashing backs desperate to gain a losing bonus point. Neither side could add to their tally, but Ayr had achieved their bonus point win over a Chieftains side that should have been closer to the final score, especially if the finishing had been smarter; those little errors will prove costly against the top teams.
In recent years many visiting clubs have found Millbrae a rather hostile, unforgiving venue, and Currie did well against a well-organised mixture of experience and youth, whose ranks contained several professionals and some large lumps in the pack. Nevertheless at Premiership level it should be expected. With a little tuning and some luck, this Malleny team will succeed. Once again there were some outstanding performances especially from Thomas Gordon, Gregor Hunter and Joe Reynolds. The front five did very well considering that they were several kilograms lighter than the Ayr pack.
It was interesting to hear a local supporter saying that he will be sorry not to see Currie at Millbrae when the new setup gets underway, ‘your team always provides stiff competition and entertaining rugby, I don’t see this S6 thing providing the same passion and competition as the club game,’ he said. The Chieftains are at home to Hawick next weekend, and our Border visitors will be desperate to get a win. They will be no pushover as Currie have found to their cost in recent seasons. KO at Malleny Park 2.30pm. I.J.S, 9.9.18
Chieftains Team v Ayr, 8.9.18
16 Campbell Wilson, 17) AP McWillim, 18) Marc Kelly, 19) Roan Frostwick, 20) Adam Hall
📸 George McMillian
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