Currie secure bonus point win over Ayr

Currie secured a 31-19 bonus point win over Ayr at Malleny Park to secure a place inside the top four in their last BT Premiership game of this year. A second-half turnaround saw the hosts come back from 19-14 down at half-time to run in three tries and claim victory over the league leaders.Currie made use of the home advantage in the early stages and it was wasn’t long before James Semple broke in the mid-field to release Blair Kinghorn for his first try after ten minutes.Ayr responded swiftly with several carries from the forwards eventually finding Pete McCallum who barged his way over for his team’s first score, with Frazier Climo converting after 12 minutes.The visitors went on the attack minutes later after Greg Peterson stole a Currie line-out, leading to Junior Bulumakau racing along the right hand touchline for an impressive individual score.Play settled before Semple stepped up for a long-range penalty after Ayr were caught offside. Frazier Climo then broke from deep and cantered away for Ayr’s third try of the game before converting in the 30th minute.Semple made the most of two penalty opportunities bringing the half-time score to 19-14.Currie looked dangerous after the interval and they opened the scoring through Ross Weston in the 47th minute with Semple converting to put the home side in the lead for the first time.Ayr struggled to respond and were down to 14 men after Craig Gossman was sent to the sin-bin before Kinghorn charged down a kick to extend Currie’s lead and secure his second try of the game.The final score came from Ruaridh Smith who shrugged off several tackles on the attack to secure the bonus point try for Currie in the 66th minute.  Ayr fought back in the closing stages but Currie held on for the win, sending the ball into touch to bring play to an end. Elsewhere in the BT Premiership, Stirling County defeated Gala 22-15 at Bridgehaugh and Glasgow Hawks came away with a 33-15 victory over Selkirk at Philiphaugh.Melrose edged out Heriot’s 18-14 at Goldenacre to claim second place in the table, while Boroughmuir’s visit to Hawick was postponed. Currie: Blair Kinghorn; Ruaridh Smith, Fidias Efthymiou, Robbie Nelson, Harvey Elms; James Semple, Charlie Shiel; John Cox, Matt Goodwin, Alistair Hamilton, Mike Vernel, Kieran Low, Luke Crosbie, Travis Brooke, Ross Weston. Replacements: Graeme Carson, Shaun Ruwers, Stephen Ainslie, Matt O’Neill, Matt McPhillips. Ayr: Grant Anderson; Junior Bulumakau, Richard Dalgliesh, Ross Curle, Craig Gossman; Frazier Climo, David Armstrong; Pete McCallum, Graham Fisken, Blair Macpherson, Greg Peterson, Scott Sutherland, D’arcy Rae, Lewis Anderson, Steven Longwell. Replacements: Sam Kenny, George Hunter, Rob McAlpine, Cameron Taylor, Jack Preston.