Unbeaten Ayr face another tough test as Heriot's look to get at reigning Premiership champions
Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership heavyweights clash at Goldenacre this weekend.
Round five of the 2026/27 Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership will be highlighted by a heavyweight clash at Goldenacre as Heriot’s host league leaders Ayr.
The reigning champions are the only team with a one hundred per cent record still intact but face arguably their toughest test so far against the Edinburgh side. They were pushed all the way by Kelso last weekend, eventually running out 28-26 winners at Poynder Park, in conditions which head coach Grant Anderson described as “hellish”.
He said: “We didn't capitalise on the wind when we had it, I don't think either team actually did. Then when we were playing against it, it was really tough to get our game going.
Premiership round four: Ayr travel to Heriot’s, Watsonian at Melrose, Currie host Edinburgh Accies and more
“The scoreline was much closer than I would like it, but that's the way the game went. We weren't at our best and Kelso were very effective in their game plan. It was a tough day at the office, and that's not to discredit Kelso at all because they were very good, but our errors led to more errors amongst those conditions.”
In terms of this weekend, Anderson is aware the fixture has the potential to be their most difficult of the season so far. However, their target remains the same and that’s to win every game they play.
“We don't shy away from the fact that we want to win every game,” added Anderson. “Nor do we shy away from the fact that everybody wants to beat us, that's something that these players have played with for a long time.
“We just want to make sure that the best version of ourselves shows up every Saturday and puts the work in. We're trying to continue evolving as a group and keep getting better and better”
Heriot’s have had what their head coach Stuart Edwards described as a ‘mixed bag’ of results, winning two and losing two so far. They have suffered narrow defeats away to Currie and last weekend against Melrose where the hosts won 28-26 at the Greenyards.
However, they’re also the league’s top scorers and Edwards has been pleased with a lot of what he has seen from his players, saying: “We probably felt we could have and should have won [at Melrose], but we never did. We've had two very good wins, and we've come off on the wrong side of two very tight away losses against teams that we're competing with at the top end of the table.
“All of the stuff that we did to potentially not win those games is all stuff we can control, we just need to convert those tighter games into wins, and this weekend isn't going to be any different. Ayr have got a certain way of playing that they're very, very good at. They're a set-piece orientated team that thrive on teams being ill-disciplined or being inaccurate.
“If you are either of those things, then their set-piece takes them to a place where they're quite hard to stop. In theory, if you're accurate and you don't give away a high number of penalties, then you give yourself a chance to compete with them.”
Elsewhere in the Premiership this weekend there’s another tasty tie between Watsonian and Melrose who have both won three and lost one so far. Glasgow Hawks are at home to Hawick, GHA host Kelso and Edinburgh Accies make the trip to Currie.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.