MARR were disappointed to draw at home to the Borderers in a very t i g ht ly bal a nced c ont e s t at Fullarton. The result and results elsewhere meant Marr slipped down to second place in the league, two points behind Jed Forest but with a game in hand. The rescheduled match against Kirkcaldy on 23 February now takes on even more importance. Selkirk got the first score in five minutes and it was reward for the first sustained attack. Probing for any weakness across Marr’s try line they kept possession and maintained their shape and eventually were able to exploit a gap when they spread the ball wide and prop Bruce Riddell was unstoppable as he charged in from five metres. Marr immediately hit back with a converted try to level. Eventually power pressure from the forwards paid off and it was Stephen Adair who found enough of a gap to propel himself through like a human torpedo and touch down despite determined efforts by several Selkirk defenders to deny this. During the next half hour leading up to half-time, play ebbed back and forth. Both sides had chances to break the deadlock but defences were sound. Marr’s backs had good opportunities, making several line breaks but were thwarted by some great cover defensive work. Scott and Conor Bickerstaff were closely policed to try to prevent them getting any real space. The breakthrough came just before half-time and it was a second Selkirk conver ted try. Winning a 5m scrum their scrum half McColm opted to -go on the blind side and twisted and turned to the line. Seven minutes into the second half, Marr got off to a flying start and immediate laid siege in Selkirk’s 22 metre area. With dominance though the forwards, in particular herculean efforts from William Farquhar who set a lead that the rest followed Marr managed to cross Selkirk’s line and it was illegal play that prevented the score. Selkirk’s giant lock Andrew Renwick was given a yellow card for his disruptive efforts and Marr went for scrum from the penalty award. As the pack inched towards the tryline Ross Miller executed a perfect number eight pick and go and dived in to score a converted try. With 10 minutes left Marr pressure was rewarded with a penalty that was within Colin Sturgeon’s range and he duly converted to open up a three-point lead. Marr tried to close the match out in the face of increasing Selkirk pressure. With minutes remaining play we in Marr’s 22 metre area. Marr were unable to clear their lines and following a series of scrums Selkirk won a penalty that was converted by Rory Banks