Ayr Ladies 19 Stewartry Sirens 10

Ayr Ladies showed great spirit, determination and a real nose for the try-line to overcome Stewartry Sirens at Millbrae on Saturday morning.

With captain Gemma Swankie leading from the front, Ayr got off to a good start, securing a number of turn-overs, but Stewartry contained them to their own half.  The visitors made for the line but there was strong defence from the home side, with full-back Samantha Russell putting in some solid tackles.

Ayr managed to turn defence into attack, and stand-off Emily Irving showed why she was selected to represent Scotland under-20s, superbly handing off a defender to fly in under the posts for the first try.  She deftly converted her own score.  7-0.

Stewartry fought back, but Ayr again defended well, this time prop Louise Maclauchlan and winger Ann-Marie Connelly putting in the hard graft.  But Stewarty still found their way over the line.  The conversion attempt was short.  7-5.

As the second half began, Ayr right winger Lisa Jayne Croniken displayed great strength not to be turned over by Stewartry, and a few minutes later, she turned up again, this time scoring under the posts.  Irving got the extras.  14-5.

Ayr competed well at the line-out, managing to steal Stewartry's throw on a couple of occasions.  But the visitors are a long-established team and grabbed another try just as the sun came out in Alloway.  The conversion was missed again.  14-10.

Ayr stuck to their purpose, moving play right up to the five-metre line and going for a push-over, only to knock-on.  They didn't have to wait long, however, for their third and final try.  A charge from centre Daryl Paterson started things off, but it was scrum-half Fiona Potts who scored on the wing after breaking from half-way.  With Irving suffering from cramp, Potts took the conversion but it fell short.

There were several contenders for player-of-the-match, but it was awarded to Daryl Paterson.  Final score Ayr Ladies 19 Stewartry Sirens 10.


EH