BT Premiership ROUND-UP: Finn returns to Ayr in bonus point style
Hawick 28 – 43 AyrAyr overcame Hawick in a bonus point win at Mansfield Park with Scotland and Glasgow Warriors stand-off Finn Russell pulling the strings for the Millbrae men’s fourth win of the season. Finn lined up alongside younger brother Archie for the first time after recovering from an injury sustained in the Guinness Pro12 semi-final against Connacht in April. Ayr scored a total of seven tries with several under the influence of Scotland’s stand-off. However, it was Hawick who had the first say of the game through Neil Renwick, who crossed under the posts after Darcy Graham made the initial break in the third minute with Renwick adding the extras.Ayr went down to 14 after Scott Sutherland found himself in the bin, but Calum Forrester’s men soon located Gregor Henry for their second try before Finn Russell converted.Hawick responded through Bruce McNeill minutes later with Renwick converting. Ayr then leveled the scores before the break as Finn found Archie in midfield for a converted try orchestrated by the Russell brothers (14-14). Last season’s Scotland Club XV Captain, Ross Curle, made his way over after breaking through the defence in the second-half. Finn followed up with another try for Ayr, utilising Curle in the centre to loop round before converting his own score. Ayr secured a further three tries with Blair Macpherson getting on the end of a Finn Russell boot, Archie bagging his second of the game, and Macpherson securing his double after receiving a timely offload from scrum-half David Armstrong. Frazier Climo added the extras in replaced of Russell. Hawick managed to score either side of a barrage of Ayr scores, McNeill going over from close range with Kirk Ford slotting the points. A try bonus for Hawick was also secured through a final touch down from Wesley Hamilton but it was Ayr who welcomed back their Scotland stand-off in fine style to record an unbeaten run.Hawick: Tries: McNeill (2), Hamilton, Renwick. Cons: Armstrong (2), Ford (2). Ayr: Tries: A Russell (2), F Russell, MacPherson (2), Curle, Henry. Cons: F Russell (3), Climo. Referee: David Sutherland Currie 27 – 24 Stirling County Currie secured their first win of the BT Premiership season in fine style with a last-minute try against Stirling County at Malleny Park.In the dying minutes, Ben Cairns’ men produced several valiant attacks through midfield which resulted in scrum-half Charlie Shiel racing over before Jamie Forbes added the extras to snatch victory. The opening stages told a different story with Stirling County taking the initiative early on, the County forwards piling on the pressure in the loose to create space for a darting Ross Jones to find his way over before the 20-minute mark and with Jonny Hope converting. Currie responded with a successful penalty attempt from Jamie Forbes and it was Graeme Carson who later barged through the defence from close range to put Currie in front.However, County fought back with a score from Fraser Lyle following Alex Taylor who intercepted a pass from Forbes, before Hope added the extras.Ross Jones then cemented County’s lead before the interval, nailing a penalty from 55 metres to secure a 17-8 visiting lead at half-time.Currie came out firing after the break, Forbes taking a penalty quickly to race down the right touchline to dive in at the corner, only to be deemed in touch. However, the host’s optimism was soon dashed following the binning of Dan Marek.County capitalised through Adam Nicol who received from Jake Creswell in midfield before stretching the lead for the visitors with Hope slotting the points.Currie never gave up fighting and were in once again after Fergus Scott found Thomas Gordon with a neat chip through the defence. Cameron Gray was next on the score sheet for the Malleny men, Forbes finding the winger on the inside ball before converting.In the dying minute, Currie looked to have claimed victory with a dot down from Gray over in the left corner but a raised flag signaled in touch and returned possession to County. A misjudged lineout from the visitors presented ball to Currie before several phases found the pace of Shield for the winning score.Forbes converted to cement Currie’s achievement and Malleny’s first win of the BT Premiership season. Currie: Tries: Carson, Gordon, Gray, Shiel. Cons: Forbes (2). Pen: Forbes. Stirling County: Tries: Jones, Lyle, Nicol. Cons: Hope (3). Pen: Jones.Referee: Dunx McClement Gala 27 – 43 Melrose Melrose continued with winning-ways in a Border derby against Gala at Netherdale to reinforce their status as league leaders.Russell Anderson took the first score for Melrose after four minutes before Gregor Hunter reacted with a penalty for Gala. However, a busy Fraser Thomson produced a trademark kick through, which eventually made its way to Neil Irvine-Hess for the try. Gala secured a further three points from Hunter’s boot, before Melrose wrapped up the first-half with a penalty from Jason Baggott.The visitor’s continued to probe Gala’s defence and when Ross McCann broke down the wing, Iain Moody received to canter towards the line.Baggott claimed the bonus point after charging over from the scrum before placing a weighted kick in the corner for Moody to catch mid-air and touch down for his second.Melrose’s Jamie Bhatti saw yellow and Gala capitalised through Ross Combe who crashed over in the corner. Dangerous McCann responded for Melrose with a pacey score, before Edinburgh wing Rory Scholes bagged his first try for Gala and a consolation for the losing Borders side.Gala: Try: Combe, Weir, Scholes. Con: Hunter (2), Spiers. Pen: Hunter (2). Melrose: Try: Anderson, Irvine-Hess, Moody, Baggott, Moody, McCann. Con: Baggott (5). Pen: Baggott.Referee: Cammy RudkinBoroughmuir 16 – 23 Heriot’s Heriot’s secured their second win of the season in an Edinburgh thriller with Boroughmuir at Meggetland.The defending champions scored promptly in the opening stages after Alex Hagart slotted a penalty in the fourth minute. However, Boroughmuir responded minutes later when Dougie Steele leveled the scores with a three-pointer. Heriot’s gained possession in the Boroughmuir 22 and it wasn’t long before Murray McCallum found position to barge over for the first try of the game, Hagart adding the extras.Steele responded with another penalty but Hagart cemented the lead for Heriot’s with a long-range kick moments later. The visiting stand-off then secured another three points on the stroke of half-time before Dale Robertson was sent to the bin.Boroughmuir kicked-off the second-half with a penalty from Steele but the Heriot’s pack soon gathered momentum and a penalty try was awarded after Phil Smith’s charges rumbled, Hagart converting.Boroughmuir produced a late surge with Steele racing towards the line and offloading in the tackle to Jamie Scott who touched down before Steele added the points to claim a losing bonus point.Boroughmuir: Try: Scott. Con: Steele. Pens: Steele (3). Heriot’s: Tries: McCallum, Penalty, Cons: Hagart (2) Pens: Hagart (3).Referee: Neil MuirGlasgow Hawks 48 – 20 Watsonians Glasgow Hawks claimed a comprehensive win over an unbeaten Watsonians side at Old Anniesland to jump ahead of the Edinburgh outfit into third position in the league table.The first try of the game came after Watsonians went down to the 13 men with Shaun Ruwers and Scott McLeod heading to the bin, George Horne touching down for the home side. Hawks’ Craig Gossman went on an impressive run from inside his own half to score before Junior Bulumakau chased down his own kick on the wing for a try.Gossman secured the bonus point try for Hawks after Grant Stewart grafted in midfield. However, Watsonians soon responded through two scores, Mark Bertram and Edinburgh pro Neil Cochrane capitalising from the lineout.Watsonians showed signs of promise in the second-half, once restored to full capacity but the Hawks defence remained effective.Tries continued from the hosts, Bulumakau finished on a hat-trick after chasing another kick and then receiving from Scott Rodgers for his third.An interception from Robert Beattie rounded up proceedings, with Hawks joining Watsonians, Ayr and Melrose as the current top four play-off contenders. Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Horne, Gossman (2), Bulumakau (3), Beattie. Cons: Horne (5). Pen: Horne. Watsonians: Tries: Bertram, Cochrane, Duckett. Con: Helps. Pen: Helps.Referee: Kevin White
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