Currie 16 - 13 Ayr: Currie just too hot for Ayr

TWO good teams, a large, voluble crowd of some two-and-a-half thousand fans and masses of endeavour on the field; anyone who popped into Malleny Park yesterday afternoon would have been forgiven for thinking that Scottish club rugby is in right rude health.

Long may it last and if two "unfashionable" clubs can put on a show like this then we can only hope for more of the same. If there was any complaint about yesterday's encounter it was simply that the game lacked a little class but perhaps that was inevitable given what was at stake.

There were too many unforced errors to make this a classic but the match still offered seat-of-the-pants entertainment. It went right down to the wire and might have ended differently had Ayr not spurned the late opportunity to kick a simple penalty for the draw. Instead, they backed themselves with an attacking lineout and, for once, the men in pink just failed to come up with the goods.

After this result Currie still need to win at Hawks next week but they don't need an added bonus point and, given their massive points difference, a draw will probably suffice. It's not something that coach Ally Donaldson is contemplating.

"I've never known a rugby team play for a draw," he said after the match. "We still need to go to Hawks and win which won't be easy because they have something tangible to play for, a place in the British and Irish Cup.

"I thought we gave away a soft score early on but to bounce back from that was great. There were a lot of guts shown by the players at the end and the man who personified that spirit was Andy Binikos. He was out for a year with a broken leg, then he broke it again down at Ayr and today was his first game back."

Binikos certainly had a positive effect when he was introduced late in the game but it's invidious to highlight any one individual in what was an outstanding team effort. Currie led for the first ten minutes and the last ten and the home team spent the final few moments of this match desperate defending a slender three-point lead.

Frazier Climo made a solo break but Mark Carins made the covering tackle. Scrum-half Richard Sneddon won a turnover by tackling Ayr's Andy Dunlop at the base of a scrum and Alun Walker upended Grant Anderson when the fullback threatened to snatch a win late on. Chris Kinloch tracked back and snuffed out a run from Ross Curle. That was the story of the match, two good teams preventing each other from playing much rugby.

When the referee eventually blew for full time the relief was palpable as the crowd roared their approval.

There is little between the two teams. Admittedly, Climo fluffed three penalty attempts at goal and spurned another but against that Ayr's first try on 17 minutes was an absolute gift. Richard Sneddon passed to Ayr's Climo who hacked ahead. Willie Moala got back but the Tongan also got himself into an awful guddle attempting to retrieve the bouncing ball, allowing Ayr winger Cammy Taylor to nick in and dive over.

Currie wasted no time in sticking back and a series of driving mauls ended with flanker Jamie Thomson burrowing his way over from close range to keep his team in the hunt. Climo was successful with two penalties in the first half compared to one from Johnny Smith to give his side a 13-10 lead at the break. Ayr came out for the second 40 with all guns blazing and it wasn't long before Smith had equalised when Paul Burke took his habitual trip to the sin bin just three minutes after the re-start.

With the scores tried at 13-13, Currie's Alun Walker made a break from inside his own half and the hooker ran 40 yards before the move died. For the visitors Damien Kelly was almost unstoppable as time and again the Ayr skipper carried the ball, and umpteen defenders, deep into opposition ground. Climo kept his side in the right part of the field for most of the final quarter but eventually the one difference between these sides emerged.

Currie took their points when the opportunity arose ten minutes from time while Ayr opted for a kick to touch. That decision has left Currie in the driving seat to land their second title in four seasons.

Currie: Smith, Moala, Kinloch, MacMahon, Fife; White (Binikos 50 min), Sneddon; Cox, Walker, Hamilton, Wilson, Adam (capt), Cairns, Thomson (Temple 60 min), Weston.

Ayr: Anderson, Wilson, Curle, Stewart, Taylor; Climo, McFarlane (Hunter 45 min); Reid, McArthur, Fenwick, Kelly, Sutherland, Crossan, Burke, Dunlop (Tippett 57 min).

Scorers: Currie – Try: Taylor. Conv: Climo. Pen: Climo (2). Ayr – Try: Thomson. Conv: Smith. Pen: Smith (3).

Referee: Andrew McPherson (Livingston)