FORTRESS Philiphaugh maintained its impregnability as Selkirk halted the progress of Premiership pacesetters Ayr in a thrilling contest that went to the wire, but which deservedly resulted in a win for the Borderers.
"The better side definitely won," conceded Ayr's coach, Kenny Murray. "They moved the ball well, but we gave them too much room. We need to bounce back now. That will be a measure of how good we are".
Those who would characterise Selkirk as all a
bout pride and passion would be short of the mark. Yesterday, in maintaining an unbeaten home run that has continued since defeat by Biggar last year, Selkirk showed that they have quality half backs, a brisk back three in which Fraser Harkness exudes that cavalier spirit that rugby needs, a strong midfield and a pack, in which lock Rory Aglen and Neil Darling were superb, that can give as good as it gets.
On paper the odds were stacked against Selkirk, with Ayr fielding three of Scotland's Sevens side, among whom Callum Forrester is a full-time professional with Glasgow, in addition to an impressive tranche of foreign forces that include the talented young stand-off Frazier Climo, not to mention the fearsomely strong Damien Kelly.
Selkirk, unsurprisingly, given their Kings-of-the-Sevens status, looked much the better side with ball in hand during the early exchanges, and when centre Ross Armstrong cut an acute angle before linking with stand-off Gavin Craig, the home side gained a foothold five metres from the Ayr line. From the ensuing play, Ayr infringed at the contact, giving David Cassidy his first penalty goal of the match.
Three minutes later, and again with Craig the orchestra maestro, Selkirk sliced through the Ayr defence. Under pressure, Ayr conceded another penalty and again Cassidy made no mistake with his kick .
Ayr suffered again with the dismissal to the sin-bin of Andy Dunlop after the flanker had prevented Selkirk playing the ball at a free-kick award. But in the event, Selkirk were unable to profit and stand-off Frazier Climo kicked a penalty after Scott Forrest had opened up the home defence.
The score seemed to lift Ayr to higher ambitions as they showed with a sweet backline move engineered by New Zealander Climo that ultimately won them a penalty award and second goal for the young Taranaki stand-off.
Ayr's momentum continued and yet again it was Climo who provided the points, the 21-year-old punishing a professional foul by Scott Tomlinson that earned the Selkirk No8 time in the sin-bin with a 40-metre penalty kick to give his side a 9-6 interval advantage.
A third penalty from Cassidy maintained home hopes after the interval and the kicking contest continued with a fourth success for Climo. Then came the moment the game had awaited – the first try. Full-back Fraser Harkness backed his skills with a neat chip ahead before gathering the bouncing ball and linking with Scott Hendrie. Ayr did well to track down Hendrie but the Selkirk winger was able to off-load to Lee Jones who had the strength to reach the line.
Cassidy converted for a 16-12 lead but almost immediately Ayr hit back with a fifth penalty goal from Climo to narrow the lead to just one point. It looked as though Selkirk had given away another three points when scrum half Mike McVie impeded Ayr replacement Grant Anderson, but this time Climo proved fallible.
Selkirk: F Harkness; S Hendrie, D Cassidy, R Armstrong, L Jones; G Craig, M McVie; G Patterson, S Forrest, M Murray, R Aglen, E Gauche, N Dasrling, C Johnston, S Tomlinson. Replacements used: R Taylor, A McDowell, S Willet, R Crockett, A Dunbar
Ayr: R McCallum; A Wilson, J Montoro, S Forrest, F Marin; F Climo, AJ McFarlane; G Reid, P McArthur, S Fenwick, G Tippet, S Sutherland, J Wilson, A Dunlop, C Forrester. Replacements used: P Burke, D Kelly, G Sykes, G Anderson, R Holland
Referee: A Healey (GHA)
Scorers: Selkirk – Try: Jones. Con: Cassidy. Pens: Cassidy (3). Ayr: Pens: Climo (5).
The full article contains 693 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
