AYR 23 GLASGOW HAWKS 20
AYR had never beaten Hawks and it couldn't have been closer at Millbrae, but the home side finally triumphed in an exhilarating encounter.

Mike Adamsom opened the scoring for Hawks with a third-minute penalty but Ayr surged back with a Damien Kelly try and stretched the lead when Pierluigi Gentile beat three tacklers to touch down. Then, on the half hour, Stuart Smith went over in the corner to narrow the gap to 10-8 at the break.

Ayr looked to be cruising after Nick Lavelle crossed early in the second half and Ben Colley kicked a penalty, but Hawks roared back. Two lineout drives led to tries from Greg Francis and Sandy Warnock to set up a pulsating finale. But with Hawks 20-18 ahead, Kelly's second try was the clincher despite a final ten minutes when Hawks threw everything at an Ayr defence which refused to crack.

This article was posted on 15-Oct-2006, 07:49 by Hugh Barrow.