Going into the fixture it was billed as a close call, with both sides tied on 16 points in the league, so it should be no surprise that it played out to be a stalemate. An emphatic opening forty for Ayr was followed by a terrific second forty for Stirling, with the match leveling out at 26 points a-piece.
Despite Ayr bagging the bonus point early in the second half, assistant coach Robbie Fergusson feels that it was a case of two points lost instead of three points gained: "At the end of the day our penalty count in the second half put us to bed. We spoke about that after last week, about discipline in the second half. They take their toll when you are up against a big pack. "There are positives to take from this, especially our first half. We were in a good place at 26-7 up, but Stirling came back and we were lucky to squeak through in the end". The result means Ayr retain the Cairdias Quiach, a trophy yet to grasp County hands since its' inception in 2014. It also keeps the Club XV's 100% home record intact, but the visitors will leave as equally disappointed not to have full servings. It could have been different reading, had their ten slotted a penalty attempt in the 80th minute, but it slipped wide to conclude the fixture.In what was a frantic opening to the game Stirling scored before their lead was denied by Ross Mccorkindale who managed to ride a high tackle and slip-free to canter in. Zac Howard bagged the second to add to the lead. The winger came off his sideline to catch an inside ball and shoot through contact. With gas to burn he torched the flailing tackler to dive clear. On the stroke of half-time James Armstrong got the third. The thunderous runner was at the heart of Ayr's go-forward throughout the contest and was awarded a score when he powered over from close range.Kicker Jamie Bova slotted all three to make it 21-7 at the break. The interval didn't seem to cool off Ayr's red-hot backs, and soon Zac Howard ran in for his second. Matt Donaldson done well to prance through the line in open play, before the ball was shipped wide to the open Howard.Ayr's scores dried up from there. Two Wolves tries in quick succession all of a sudden made it a tight affair. On 65 minutes the ref awarded a penalty try from a scrum which drove Ayr over their line, to chalk up the game.The final 15 minutes played out well for the visitors, but they couldn't put a brave Ayr team to the sword. Two try-saving tackles, the first by Bova and the second Donaldson, inevitably kept the hosts alive.Full-time: Ayr RFC 26-26 Stirling Wolves.Ross Mccorkindale, whos x-factor generated much of what was great for Ayr, was named Slaters Menswear Man of the Match.
