Ayr S2 24 Cumnock / Kilmarnock S2 Cougars 11

The Cougars travelled down to Ayr full of confidence following last weeks stunning performance against Biggar. Although Ayr have been a dominant force over the last few seasons this mixed team from Kilmarnock and Cumnock quite rightly fancied their chances. All of the boys were in no doubt though that each and every one of them had to be at the peak of their game.

Ayr started strongly in the first period and straght away their large flanker made a great run up field shrugging of despairing attempted tackles. However just short of the line Taylor Howie put in a tremendous crunching tackle that set the tone for the game. Ayr though took control over the next five minutes and scored two quick tries. The Cougars regrouped though and started playing to their strengths, passing the ball quickly and rucking like demons at the breakdown. In the scrum Ayr struggled against their smaller more skilled opponents who out-played them at the set-piece throughout the game. The quick play stunned Ayr and forced them into a number of infringments and quick thinking from scrum half Craig Hamilton saw him dart over for a try. Ayr replied with another score before the break.

Encourgaed by their performance the Cougars went on to dominate the second period. Jack Reilly caught the kick-off cleanly and fed the ball to Callan Gordon. He then went on one of his trademark jinky runs, ending up with a try under the posts giving David Smith an easy conversion. Ayr were a bit shell-shocked and started to lose their composure, again giving away needless penalties at the rucks. The Cougars showed levels of aggression that their coaches had never seen but had always hoped were there and they forced their opponents onto the back foot time and time again. A well worked back move saw Taylor Howie off loading to winger Adam Nekkal who won the foot race to the try line, again converted by David Smith. The period ended with Ayr scoring after capitalising on a bit of uncharacteristic hesitance in the Cougars defensive line but this was generally against the run of play.

In the last period the Cougars took the game to their opponents, realising that they had a chance to nail their hoodoo at last. Alas it was not to be as Ayr scored two unanswered tries from breakaways as the Cougars defense finally started to run out of steam.

The boys made Ayr work hard for their win and walked off the field with heads held high. The coaches were delighted with the performance from the whole team, proving that the result against Biggar wasn't a peak but something to build on. The team can look forward to the rest of the season with confidence and will relish the return match against Ayr in April.