Ayr 23 - 14 Heriot's: Ayr refuse to dwell on semi-final win

AYR coach Kenny Murray allowed his men five minutes to savour the prospect of a first visit to Murrayfield before switching the focus to more pressing issues.

The dust had barely settled on a Scottish Hydro Premier Cup win over the defending champions in an engrossing encounter at Millbrae when Murray was reminding the players that their aspirations of a league and cup double face another stern test imminently.

"The cup final is now out the window – we have a hard league game coming up", he said. "(Glasgow] Hawks on Friday will be difficult for us."

Heriot's, bidding for a third successive final, were served an early warning as Ayr dominated the opening ten minutes. But the Goldenacre side survived that onslaught and took the lead through a Graham Wilson penalty.

Ayr responded with two strikes by Frazier Climo before Wilson tied the scores and sparked a spell in the ascendancy for the visitors. But the Ayr defence refused to buckle and the hosts finished the first-half the stronger of the two, turning with a 9-6 advantage after Climo slotted a third penalty.

Ayr had contained the pacy Heriot's backs during the opening 40 minutes but the threat posed by the visitors' back three was illustrated within seconds of the restart. An Ayr attack was turned over and the ball shipped wide to Colin Goudie who chipped ahead, gave the ball a second nudge then won the sprint for the line.

Conceding that score served to galvanise the hosts and their response came when Ross Curle's incisive run sucked in two defenders and allowed him to feed Cammy Taylor who completed the job. Climo converted to create a five point cushion that remained in place entering the final ten minutes.

Wilson's third penalty nibbled into the deficit and sparked a desperate final effort by Heriot's. Twice they lost possession at key moments, allowing the home defence to relieve the pressure.

And with the clock ticking down, Ayr inched their way back into opposition territory and Climo dodged over for a try, which he converted with the final action of a pulsating contest.

"We won it but it could have gone either way up until the last five minutes. Heriot's played really well," admitted Murray.

"They are an in-form side and we knew that. We made a few errors early in the game and we weren't quite as clinical as we needed to be in their 22. But our boys wanted it."

Assistant coach Roddy Deans summed up the disappointment in the Heriot's camp when he said: "The boys are gutted but we take heart out of coming to Millbrae and it being 50-50 up to the last couple of minutes."

Scorers: Ayr: Tries: Taylor, Climo. Cons: Climo (2). Pens: Climo (3).

Heriot's: Try: Goudie. Pens: Wilson (3).

Ayr: G Anderson; J McClung, R Curle, M Stewart, C Taylor; F Climo, J Hunter; G Reid, S Adair, S Fenwick, S Sutherland, D Kelly, J Crossan, P Burke, G Tippett. Subs used: G Sykes.

Heriot's: C Goudie; M Teague, P Saunders, R Mill, M Nimmo; G Rutherford, G Wilson; A Dymock, K Bryce, W Blacklock, P O'Connor, C Osazuwa, M Maltman, C Fusaro, J Syme. Subs used: N Meikle, M Reid, R Hutton.

Ref: N Paterson.