Arnold Clark Men's Premiership: Ayr see off Selkirk and go over 1000 points for the season
03/29/2025 03:14 PM
Ayr 53
Selkirk 21
IAIN HAY @ Millbrae
AYR reached the 1000-point mark by seeing off a determined Selkirk to finish their regular domestic campaign in front of their home fans, sitting comfortably on top of the pile before their long wait to face the only team that have beaten them this season, Currie Chieftains, in the play-offs.
Although the rain managed to stay off for the majority of the match, there had been a torrential downpour just preceding referee Dan Evans' whistle, making the pitch quite heavy and choppy.
"Conditions like that can sometimes be a bit of a leveller but like we've done all year, the message to the boys coming in was to go and take their opportunity and perform," said Ayr assistant Frazier Climo post-match.
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"I thought our 9-10 controlled things really well, but on days like this you've just got to keep it pretty simple, and with our forward pack and the dominance we can get, our backs can feed off that."
Of the sizeable gap in their schedule while they wait for rearranged fixtures to be fulfilled, Climo added: "We'll be fairly sensible about it, we'll give the boys a week off next week, and then gear up for Currie and get excited about that.
"Early on, since we lost to them, we've been keeping an eye on where they're going to finish and we're really looking forward to it.
"I don't think [that we're not playing any fixtures] will change too much. Obviously the boys know they can freshen up now and get rid of a couple of niggles and really fly into a couple of weeks training: we'll be ready."
Ayr had broken the deadlock after a David McCartney kick was spilled, Andy Stirrat took it forward and Lewis McNamara had a straightforward finish in the right corner, but Selkirk came roaring back with a short-range score from Jack Fisher after they had taken a penalty to the corner. Callum Anderson's conversion meant Ayr found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being down.
Important line-out steals by Fisher and Taylor Wilson kept Ayr at bay, and the sound of sodden shirts smashing off each other echoed round the ground as Selkirk fronted up well.
Scotland Under-20 star Cameron van Wyk showed good strength to bounce out of an Anderson tackle, only to knock on over the line, but when the more sizeable Rory Jackson did the same a few moments later, he offloaded to highly-rated Jamie McAughtrie – making his first start for Ayr – who crossed the line with ball in hand.
A hammer blow was delivered just when Selkirk themselves thought they had an opportunity to counter. Having ripped the ball back in their own 22, Dylan Brodlund opted to kick ahead and the chase was on; enter Jamie Shedden.
The hulking centre recovered possession just inside his own half, and made mincemeat of the heavy pitch and the Selkirk defence, ghosting past three before passing to McNamara to claim his second in the same corner as his first.
Van Wyk's ability to bounce off contact helped secure the bonus-point try, Aminio Bogidrau, a late replacement in the starting XV for Robbie Orr, making the final pass to fellow-Fijian Amena Caqusau. Then Shedden slipped round Brodlund with the last play of the half, and with McCartney's conversion, Ayr had now scored 1001 points in the league.
Bogidrau's monstrous 50-22 laid the set-piece platform for Blair Macpherson to add to the lead, before opposite number Corey Tait took a line-out then was at the back of the maul to reduce the arrears.
Restarts, with a ball more slippery than a politician covered in Vaseline, were proving difficult for both sides to handle, Luke Pettie the culprit on this occasion allowing Ayr to get up the field before McAughtrie fired a sweet pass from the base of a ruck for Rhodri Tanner to go over, but just as Tait had done to Macpherson, Callum Smyth matched his opposite tight-head's try.
Some wizardly wing-play, sandwiched by the dropping of a restart, from Caqusau brought a score for Fergus Johnston and a second for himself, to complete the scoring, with Selkirk left frustrated they didn't secure a try bonus point for all their efforts.
"I thought we dug deep today against a very good side, we showed a bit of composure and scored three really good tries overall, but I was really disappointed we didn't get a point out of the game, I thought we were worth it because of how well the boys stuck in", was the opinion of Selkirk head coach Gordon Henderson. "They put in a massive shift against a powerful side, so I'm pleased with them.
"Overall, we're finishing fifth; winning the Borders League; I don't think anybody saw us getting 60 points in the league at the beginning of the season but we've stuck together the whole season, and we built our own momentum. Nobody else can do it for you."
Teams –
Ayr: A Bogidrau; C Van Wyk, J Shedden, A Stirrat, A Caqusau, D McCartney, B Frame; C Rae, J McAughtrie, R Tanner, O Baird, R Jackson, R Sweeney, L McNamara, B Macpherson. Subs: T Martin, T Brown, R Sayce, S Rae, R Pottie, B Beattie, F Johnston.
Selkirk: C Anderson; A Rutter, A Grant-Suttie, B Allan, B Cullen; A McColm (c), O McClymont; L Pettie, B Riddell, C Smyth, K Westlake, J Fisher, D Bronlund, T Wilson, C Tait. Subs: C Cochrane, B Malcolm, R Joyce, L Cassidy, F Malin, E Wilson, C Easson.
Referee: Dan Evans.
Scorers –
Ayr: Tries: McNamara 2, McAughtrie, Caqusau 2, Shedden, Macpherson, Tanner, Johnston; Cons: McCartney 4.
Selkirk: Tries: Fisher, Tait, Smyth. Cons: Anderson 3.
Scoring sequence (Ayr first): 5-0; 5-5; 5-7; 10-7; 12-7; 17-7; 22-7; 27-7; 29-7 (h-t) 34-7; 36-7; 36-12; 36-14; 41-14; 41-19; 41-21; 46-21; 51-21; 53-21.
Player-of-the-Match: Jamies McAughtrie and Shedden both impressed in their 55 minutes on the park, as did the ever-ferocious Ryan Sweeney, but the soon to be Northampton Sainted Amena Caqusau scored one excellent try and created an easy one for Johnston with his electric pace and footwork.
Talking Point: In the build-up to Caqusau's first try, there was a coming together of Ayr's van Wyk and Selkirk's Ethan Wilson which resulted in both suffering head wounds. Some Selkirk staff and fans felt there was foul play from van Wyk but it was incredibly hard to tell at full speed if it was an elbow or head-on-head collision. Van Wyk re-emerged bandaged up for the second half but Wilson, himself a replacement for captain Aaron McColm, had to receive stitches and didn't come back on the park. However, it is pleasing to report that it seems to be only superficial damage.
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