Melrose 16 Ayr 20

After the recent rains the pitch was in excellent condition, thanks to Gordon Barkham and his staff. This Premier 1 match was played on a sunny, but cold afternoon and it took eight minutes of sustained Melrose pressure before Scott Wight opened the scoring with a penalty. Three minutes later, and on their first excursion into the Melrose half, Ayr drew level with a Nick Lavelle penalty. Wight extended the Melrose lead with his second penalty at 28 minutes. At 35 minutes Andrew Lawrie intercepted a loose Ayr pass on the Melrose 22 and scampered threequarters of the length of the pitch to score a try between the posts, giving Wight a straight forward conversion. Two minutes later Damien Kelly crashed over from short range, after a quickly taken penalty, to score a try converted by Lavelle.
Half time - Melrose 13 Ayr 10.
One minute into the second half Ayr hooker, Pat McArthur, dived over for a try in the Town Corner. Wight kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty at 57 minutes to return the lead to Melrose. The final score came at 73 minutes when Cameron Taylor received the ball from a scrum 5 in the Town Corner and dived over for a try. Despite a last three minutes period of sustained pressure Melrose were unable to breach the Ayr defence and had to be satisfied with a losing "bonus point".
Melrose 16 Ayr 20