Nov
04
MAGIC 2s v Ayr 2s
Ayr on a wet Saturday can be a horrible place to play and it was looking that way from the very start as the game was first moved from Millbrae to Rozelle Park, 10 minutes up the road and then the bus was 30 minutes late and then got stuck in traffic.
The boys arrived with some jitters but that may have been down the way the bus driver maneuvered along the M77.
25 minute warm up and straight into it. Ayr offside form the Kick off and Muir had the ball in hand quickly. Unfortunately, they got it straight back and scored a pacey try down the left wing and converted to make it 7-0 after 4 mins.
The Magic 2s were now warmed up and Tam Gracie had a forage into the wind followed by big Aubrey. Felix Krause was not holding back and showed great work rate to stay on the feet and present quick ball. The move fizzled out due to some good defence from Ayr.
B'muir soon got the ball back through a good line speed from the backs and the returning Mark Hare charging down ex-Muir player James Armstrong's kick. Michael 'MJ' Jamieson was on hand to boot through from the 10m line and Hare chased to gather and score. Rory Scott converted to level the scores on the 20-minute mark.
Six minutes later Ayr broke down the left wing and a missed tackle allowed the centre to offload to the supporting full back and he trotted in unopposed for another 7 pointer. B’muir showed spirit, determination and hunger to score on the 34-minute mark. Scrum half Hamilton put up a box kick on his 10m line and Barker on the wing chased. A half tackle by him followed by a hit from Big Aubz freed ball to be spun to the jinky Rory Scott who ran 20m into the Ayr half, offloaded to MJ who in turn fed Gavin 'The speedster' Welsh to once again level the game at half time.
The second half began with a harsh yellow card to Ayr for taking the man in the air from the kick off. It was not malicious but by word of the law was dangerous and in today's game you need to be whiter than white. Muir kicked to the corner, secured the lineout and drove Ayr back only to be held up over the line. From the ensuing scrum a simple 8, 9 10 saw Scott sneak in for another 7 pointer.
Ayr, once again, responded with a break down the right wing, gaining a penalty for a silly B’muir infringement. The Ayr 9 tapped and went quickly feeding the forwards who duly scored to level the scores once again. Ayr then got their 7 yellowed for a high tackle and 5 mins later Armstrong for mouthing.
Scott put 3 points over the bar to give Muir a lead but with the Ayr team back to full complement, and with 9 minutes to go B’muir saw Innes at centre and prop Henry both yellowed to make the closing minutes tense. Great defence and ball retention saw us hold on and 'dog' out the remaining minutes.
There are not too many times you win a match like that in Ayr, so it was very pleasing for the coaches. That aligned with the 7 18-year olds in the squad shows that time is sometimes required to allow players to grow up in.
Great performances by our smaller front row, Hamilton at 9 showed he can control although 2 silly kicks lost him our MOM. Ben Renton ran well and Aubz hit hard. Tam Gracie has now showed he can perform well at this level and with 2 great games in a row will be chasing a berth further up.
However, a try, 3 cons and a penalty has Rory Scott as our MOM for the 2nd week in a row. He is back to where he was 2/3 years ago and with a first team needing control he may be pushing to be given a shot at the top level.
Bit of a break now as the Autumn Internationals kick in but come along to Meggetland on Friday the 24th Nov as we showcase our youth talent against a touring Austrian team All welcome and the beer will be flowing too!
