Ayr 32 - 0 Gala: Ayr leave it late to take control of gallant Gala

IF THERE is such a thing as a cup tie approach then Gala had it in spades in this Scottish Hydro Premier Cup quarter-final at Millbrae as they gave Ayr a real fight until they ran out of steam.

It should have been obvious to Ayr that the borderers were going to be no pushover when Gala didn't have a sniff of the ball for the first six minutes but kept them well clear of their 22. Indeed had the normally reliable Graham Spiers not missed with a couple of penalties and Frazier Climo landed one from two, Gala could have turned round deservedly three points ahead.

Ayr squandered a ton of possession, passing into space with awesome regularity and finding the feisty Gala back row, and Steve Cairns in particular, eager to pounce on any error. Opeta Palepoi was a handful for the Ayr pack, who coughed up ball constantly, and a couple of nifty moves involving the Lees – fullback Miller and centre Kibble – were only ended by last-ditch tackles.

It took Ayr until the final quarter to establish any superiority after a move set up and completed by Jonny McClung had edged them to 8-0 ahead, but tries by Gibson Siwo on 60 minutes and a typical solo effort from Climo with ten minutes to go took the match away from the game borderers. Even then they had their chances and a try for hooker Mike Christie, scrum-half Ian Ross or No8 Graeme Bryce would not have flattered Gala.

Ayr turned to the power of the pack in the final five minutes, and two identical tries from driving mauls claimed by Jono Crossan skewed the scoreline a bit too much after a splendid effort by the visitors which belied their lowly league status.

"It was a really lacklustre performance" admitted Ayr coach Kenny Murray. "And we were nowhere near as clinical as we should have been. Not playing last week didn't help and we lost some of the momentum which had built up but we should still have been a lot better than we were.

"I told the players at half-time that the only thing that we could take from the first half was that we weren't behind, and all credit to Gala, they came with the right attitude and we didn't respond well until late in the game. We gave ourselves problems by not getting over the gain line and having to play too much rugby on the back foot, and our decision-making at the lineout was poor. Overall we got a reasonable result but with no disrespect we would have expected to be more dominant against a side from Premier 2."

Scorers: Ayr: Tries: McClung, Siwo, Climo, Crossan (2). Cons: Climo (2). Pen: Climo.

Ayr: A Wilson; C Taylor, J McClung, M Stewart, S Manning; F Climo, J Hunter; G Reid, S Adair, S Fenwick, S Sutherland, G Tippett, J Crossan, A Dunlop, P Burke Subs G Sykes (for Adair in 60) G Siwo (for Burke 30-45, for Wilson 55) B McPherson(for Burke 66), D Steele (for Manning 66).

Gala: L Miller; G Marks, L Kibble, A Emond, G Spiers; A McLean, I Ross; A Johnston, M Christie, D Hughes, C Weir, O Palepoi, W Cox, S Cairns, G Boyce Subs E McQuillan (for Christie 68), P Stewart (for Hughes 43), G Brown (for Cox 43), G Young (for Marks 70).

Referee: A McPherson