Rotherham v Ayr Match Report

Late penalty miss denies Ayr a memorable win in the B & I Cup

Ayr traveled to Rotherham for their 3^rd away game in the 2010/2011 British & Irish Cup knowing that a win would put them in a great position to challenge for an historic quarter-final place. Despite scoring 3 excellent tries they could only manage a respectable 20 – 20 draw against a physical Rotherham team.

Ayr came into this game on the back of a good win against Birmingham last week whilst Rotherham lost narrowly at Pontypridd.  Due to injuries picked up against Birmingham, Ayr were forced into changes and included 4 Glasgow Hawks players in their squad. Johnnie Beattie was once against released by Glasgow Warriors and despite suffering severe sickness in the early hours of Saturday morning performed well for 40 minutes before being substituted at half-time due to illness.

The game started at a blistering pace with both teams enjoying an equal share of possession. This was always going to be a physical encounter and Scott Nimmo put his mark on the game in the 2^nd minute with a thunderous hit on a Rotherham forward that demonstrated Ayr’s commitment to this crucial game.

The first points of the game went to Rotherham courtesy of a penalty by the home side’s new stand-off, Matty James, recently signed from Sale Sharks. Ayr infringed at the ruck following some good pressure exerted by the home forwards.

This seemed to bring the Ayr forwards to life and following some strong running by Dean Kelbrick the forwards drove their way into the Rotherham 22.The home side struggled to deal with Ayr’s effective pick and go play and the ball was eventually released to 17 year old Robbie Fergusson who beat his man and slid in at the corner. This put Ayr into a 3-5 lead with 13 minutes played. Grant Anderson missed the conversion.

The Ayr traveling support, including Jack and Victor (AKA Lymburn and McLintock), hoped that the try would settle the team and allow them to create more attacking opportunities but Rotherham reacted well and straight from the kick-off put Ayr on the backfoot. Following several phases of play the Rotherham backline beat a lazy Ayr defence to send right winger Will Du Randt in at the corner to make the score 8 – 5 with 15 minutes played. Matty James missed the conversion.

Ayr again reacted well to the score and raised the tempo of the game. The forwards asked some questions of the home defence with strong ball carries by Colhoun and Beattie. Rotherham eventually infringed at the ruck and Grant Anderson successfully converted the penalty to take the score to 8 – 8 with 26 minutes played.

This seemed to ignite Ayr’s attacking play and following some clever midfield play Robbie Fergusson drilled a searching cross-field kick that agonisingly rolled into touch before an Ayr player could get to it. All was not lost however as following a poor lineout throw by the Rotherham hooker the ball landed in the hands of Ayr no8 Johnnie Beattie who drove over for his first Ayr try and to take the score to 8 – 13 in Ayr’s favour with 33 minutes played. Anderson made the conversion to take the score to 8 – 15.

Half-time score: Rotherham 8 – Ayr 15

Ayr made several changes at the break with Steven Manning replacing Dougie Steele on the wing and Glasgow Hawks No8 Grant Strang replacing Johnnie Beattie in the back row.

After finishing the first half in the ascendancy Ayr had high hopes that they could extend their lead in the 2^nd half and create some daylight between themselves and their hosts. Rotherham however had different ideas and began what was easily their best quarter of the game. The Rotherham forwards stepped up both the pace and intensity of their play and put the big Ayr pack on the backfoot. With Matty James slickly controlling Rotherham’s attacking play it wasn’t long before the hosts turned their pressure into points. With 45 minutes gone the home forwards drove deep into the visitors half and a fine long pass from the Rotherham centre found right wing Will Du Randt who darted over for his 2^nd try of the afternoon. James missed the conversion and score stood at 13 – 15.

This try seemed to rattle Ayr and their attacking play seemed fragmented and loose. Panic seemed to set in and this was to lead to Rotherham’s 3^rd try. Following some close quarter forward play on the left side of the pitch the ball was released to stand-off Robbie Fergusson. With no support and a fast approaching defence the youngster tried to clear his lines but it hit a Rotherham hand and landed in the hands of the impressive home full-back, Peter Swatkins, who raced 40 metres to score in the corner. James converted the kick taking the score to 20 – 15 with 53 minutes played.

Ayr made further changes with Hawks scrum-half, Kris Hamilton replacing AJ MacFarlane, Steven Adair replacing Stuart Fenwick at hooker and old warhorse Gordon Sykes replacing Andy Kelly at prop.

This seemed to add some vitality to the Ayr attack and with Grant Strang making some storming runs from no 8 - it wasn’t long before Ayr put themselves in a good attacking position. With 71 minutes played Ayr secured a scrum on the right side of the pitch. The ball was released to the backs and a sweet training ground move sent outside centre Dean Kelbrick  bursting through the home defence and send Grant Anderson over in the left corner for Ayr’s 3^rd try. Anderson failed to convert the conversion and the score was level at 20 – 20 with 9 minutes to play.

The last 9 minutes were very tense with both teams keen to attack and take the points. Ayr got on top in this part of the game and created some good attacking opportunities. The home defence remained strong and some last ditch tackling kept Steven Manning from reaching the try line following some good play by Grant Strang on the right touchline.

Ayr continued to press and a ridiculously late tackle on Cammy Taylor resulted in a penalty against the home side 30 metres from the posts. Grant Anderson stepped up to take what would have been a match winning kick but his strike went wide and the score remained at 20 – 20.

Full-time : Rotherham 20 Ayr 20

Ayr coach Kenny Murray could not hide his disappointment at not securing the away win:

“ I’m really disappointed that we didn’t get the win today. The boys worked hard but a poor 20 minutes after the break allowed Rotherham to get into the game and get their noses in front. Some poor defensive lapses gifted Rotherham 2 scores and we need to learn that at this level we must be sharper in everything we do.

I was pleased with some of our play today particularly our physicality and set piece. We have some things we need to work on including our speed of re-organisation in defence and protection of the ball at key times in the game.

I was also pleased with the performance of Robbie Fergusson who played his first adult game of rugby at 10. Not a bad feat for a 17-year-old schoolboy!!”

So, Ayr now have 2 B & I cup games remaining, both of which are at home against Llandovery (Feb 12) and Doncaster (Feb 26). They must win these games if they are to push for that historic quarter-final place.

Before that however attention turns to Premier 1 matters with Boroughmuir visiting Millbrae next week for the crucial encounter. This is a must win game for Ayr if they are to keep their title hopes alive. The squad hopes to welcome back Ross Curle, Glen Tippett and Andy Dunlop to bolster their squad for next week’s game.

Finally, Ayr RFC would like to wish Johnnie Beattie every success in the 6 Nations and hope that his involvement with Ayr RFC has been enjoyable and has helped in his comeback.