MUAY THAI IN AYRSHIRE  RON SIMPSON travels to Ayrshire to see how a small gym goes about promoting Muay Thai. What is a small gym? STEWART MURDOCH of North Ayrshire Muay Thai always refers to his gym as a small club taking on the big boys, but how small is a gym that can turn out 12 fighters, from juniors to A class, and bring in an enthusiastic crowd of approximately 600? On the other hand it’s certainly inexperienced, not only the fighters who were predominantly novices, but Stewart and NAMT themselves who were staging their first promotion. Not that it was obvious – Pride and Passion on September 16th was a very well-run show, though Stewart made the mistake common to all promoters of Muay Thai: he underestimated how long it would take. With the doors opening at 6, he was confident it would be over by about 11. When I slipped out at 10.30, mindful of the return leg of my 500-mile return trip, the second interval had just started, with five fights to follow, including a top-of-the-bill 5 x 3 minute clash. Two intervals may seem extravagant, but the first was short and there were very few delays between fights – it’s just that Muay Thai takes longer than anyone thinks! Billionmore first took an interest in NAMT when I encountered Stewart at the WKA Championships in Huelva in 2009, when he was vainly trying to get a match for his 13-year-old daughter Cassie whom the other contestants seemed determined to avoid. We featured her on the Billionmore Hall of Fame and she went on to pick up a Muay Thai World Title, though she has never found it easy to get suitable matches. Now, when she’s on the brink of adult status, I was interested to see how she would fare in her first fight without body protection. Cassie was involved in the last of four junior fights before the first interval, immediately following her sister Natasha’s points win over Chloe Harris (Badboy Gym).  Older than Cassie and with a decent reputation, her opponent Caitlin Faulds (Eclipse) had been overwhelmed in the 1st round in her previous contest at Barnsley which dictated Cassie’s strategy. Caitlin had failed to cope with her opponent’s punches then, so Cassie charged in with fast hands, landing any number of strong punches in Rounds 1 and 2, but this time Caitlin was unmoved: perhaps she had prepared better as she was a late substitute in Barnsley. In Round 3 Cassie seemed more tired from her exertions than Caitlin was from the punishment she’d taken – round to Faulds! But Cassie (or Stewart) is canny enough to have a Plan B. Rounds 4 and 5 were fought on the back foot, with kicks her main weapon, and, if she wasn’t as dominant as in Round 1, she won both rounds clearly. So Cassie Murdoch looks to be adjusting well to fighting as a 15-year-old, but at the same time realising it’s not as easy to dominate an opponent now as it was two years ago. What of the show itself? The most impressive feature was the size and enthusiasm of the crowd. That stretch of the Ayrshire coast has its prosperous and picturesque nooks, but my impression of Saltcoats, where NAMT is based, is that money is not plentiful. However, the people certainly turned out in the Metro nightclub in the town centre. In many ways it proved an ideal venue. With assorted balconies and stairs, it was possible to accommodate a large number of people at no great distance from the ring. The cockpit setting certainly contributed to the noise and atmosphere: Stewart had promised me ‘one of the loudest supported shows you will ever attend’ – and he was right! The other main entertainment of the evening was guessing where Stewart would appear next: cornering for NAMT fighters, rushing up and down stairs with essential equipment, sending last-minute information to the MC. But there must have been a good number of unseen helpers from NAMT for the show to proceed so smoothly. Certainly referee Frank Watkins and MC Craig Stephen deserve great credit for keeping things moving in the ring. Stewart emailed me before the show to say he hoped it would be ‘an advertising exercise, more students turning up at the gym and building a stronger squad so we can compete on the fight circuit more regularly.’ I guess it will achieve all that. North Ayrshire fighters acquitted themselves well. I saw seven fights involving the home club and only one defeat. I don’t think for one moment that the NAMT fighters were deliberately given easy fights, even though two fights in succession ended in the 1st round. One was caused by a leg injury, the other by a immense swinging right from Ian Whannal and, when Jordan Brown (Badboy) got up from that, an instant repeat, finishing the fight in 33 seconds. Certainly late substitute Stephen Baines (MMag) made life as hard as possible for NAMT’s Arun Bryson in probably the most exciting fight that I saw. Arun began looking likely to get an early finish, but had to keep on top of his opponent for five rounds to get the verdict And, just for the record, NAMT kept up the standard in the third and final section after I’d headed off in the rain to my guesthouse in nearby Irvine. Dale Murray, George Morrison, Ghrame Milne and Colin Murphy all won inside the distance and, in the top of the bill, Allan Weaver, stepping up in weight, lost a very close majority decision to Chris Shaw (OB's Gym).