BT Premiership

AYR 12

WATSONIANS 48

By Elena Hogarth

VISITORS Watsonians turned on the style to beat reigning champions Ayr decisively in round nine of the BT Premiership at Millbrae.

Six tries were scored by the team from Myreside, and there will be concern at just how easy they made it look.

It was a competitive first half, with Watsonians’ fly-half Ewan Fox and centre Rory Hutton scoring tries, and the reliable boot of full-back Andrew Chalmers adding two conversions and two penalties.

Ayr replied with exciting scores of their own - centre Frazier Climo flying over the line and captain Pete McCallum proving unstoppable as he ripped the ball from Watsonians’ hands and stormed away. Winger Scott Lyle converted one.

Those were the last points Ayr scored, whilst Watsonians motored away in the second half. Flanker Rory Drummond and winger Ally Davidson grabbed a brace of tries each, exploiting large gaps in the Ayr defence each time.

Although Climo, prop George Hunter and particularly McCallum worked hard throughout the match, several senior players looked lost out on the pitch.

Wingers Scott Lyle and Craig Gossman were just itching to get some moves going, but they had no opportunities.

Watsonians went into the match in seventh place in the BT Premiership but looked like they were the second-from-top team, not Ayr. Although they made many a handling mistake, they didn’t let it affect them, and their backs were flashy and their forwards tough.

There was no-one at home in the last line of defence for Ayr in the second half as those flashy backs strolled past players in pink and black.

The number of penalties Ayr were deemed to have given away will also be a cause for concern, and the fans were not happy with the number of times referee Graeme Wells pinged the home team in the second half.

Ayr head coach Calum Forrester only had good things to say about the opposition.

Well done to Watsonians. They were the better team on the day," he conceded afterwards.

Ayr are home again this weekend, playing Boroughmuir at Millbrae, and will no doubt be looking to right some wrongs.

Meanwhile the 2nd XV were just pipped to the post by Watsonians 2nd XV in BT National Reserve 1. Cameron Reece was Ayr’s try-scorer, with James Armstrong kicking a conversion and a penalty. But two tries by Watsonians’ Mark Bertram and a Fraser Peters penalty saw the visitors win 13-10.

It was a great weekend for the Ayr-Wellington boys’ teams in the Shogun Conference, as they beat Highland at

Under-18, 16, 15 and 13 level.