Published: Tuesday, 4th November, 2008 1:15pm

Marr move upwards and onwards with win

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MARR 18 LENZIE 15

On Saturday Marr welcomed Lenzie to Fullarton Park. I t was a beautiful autumnal day and Marr who currently sit ninth in the table went into this game as underdogs. Lenzie are currently sixth in the table and were hoping to get back into the winning way after a 17-3 defeat by Lasswade two weeks ago and last week"s fixture falling foul of the weather. Marr had to draft in a couple of second fifteen players to cover for injuries to Scott Bickerstaff, Ryan Kirk and Andrew Gault. David Drummond came on to the wing and Andrew Watson moved to fullback.

Marr started brightly and were the first to score after the forwards turned over the ball which allowed Marr to release Andrew Watson, whose speed was a constant problem for Lenzie, to score in the corner. This was the start of a good afternoon for Andrew, who owed the team a performance after a couple of weeks battling illness.

Marr continued to play well and on twenty-six minutes increased their lead through a Rory McGee penalty. This seemed to awaken Lenzie as they scored a couple of minutes after the kickoff, taking the score to 8-7. Lenzie then started to up their game but dogged defending by Marr kept them at bay. Marr were also unable to cross the Lenzie line in the first half. A penalty each was the only other scoring, taking the half time score to 11-10.

Marr again started the second half the brighter and some stout Lenzie defending was all that stopped the Troon side from adding to their lead. It was however to be Lenzie who scored first in the second half with a flowing counter attack which saw Marr give up the lead for the first time in the match, the conversion was missed to take the score to 11-15.

Marr then upped their game and played some fine rugby not least the move which released Andrew Watson, who seemed to be relishing his game at full back, who ran sixty metres to score his second try of the day. Rory McGee added the conversion to give Marr an 18-15 lead.

Lenzie then took control and for the remainder of the game besieged the Marr line but Marr held on to record a good 18-15 victory.

Coach Kevin Pattie was very happy with the victory and the performance picking out second row Darren O"Connor for special praise after a good all round performance. Marr"s flankers, Don Morrison and Kurt Davies also played well and turned over a lot of ball. Rory McGee kicked well and had another all round good game. In the centre Shaun Little continued his rich vain of form causing Lenzie problems all afternoon. David Drummond also played well in an unfamiliar position. Frazer McKinnon also played well when he came on in the back row adding some pace. Next week sees Marr travel to second placed Strathmore.

The second fifteen travelled to Strathendrick looking to get back to winning ways. This was not to be however as the fell to a 26-0 loss. It was a week side that travelled to Fintry with some players being pulled into the first fifteen and injuries of their own. Marr started brightly and pressed Strathendrick early on but were unable to score. Strathendrick soon got back into the game and Marr were soon 5-0 down. Poor tackling allowing the Strathendrick centre to score.

Marr then lost stand off Gavin Mason to a groin strain. Strathendrick then added to their try haul as their powerful centre once again cut through the Marr defence to take the score to 12-0 once the conversion was added. Marr ten went down to fourteen men as prop Greg Boyle who had been carrying an injury from the last game had to come off. This meant that the scrums became unopposed and Strathendrick were to score from the next scrum, their number eight picking up and popping the ball on to his supporting player who went in to score. Taking the half time score to 19-0.

Marr then started to make some head way and scrum half Chris Galloway made a superb break, ghosting in and out of the defence and was pulled down just short of the line. Strathendrick were to score only one try in the second half as a valiant Marr defence held them at bay for the majority of the second half. Strathendrick"s only points coming in the last five minutes of the game when their numerical advantage finally showed itself. This was a hard day for Marr and a poor first half showing was made up for by a good second half team performance. Andrew Matheison tackled well as did Adam Cairns and Neil Campion. The second fifteen have no game next week.

The Marr under 15"s faced a very large Dumfries team in a league and cup double header following last weeks cancellation due to adverse weather. In the first half the Marr squad played exceptionally well with our smaller pack taking on ten opponents up front and by clearing out up to and beyond the ball they achieved an excellent attacking platform for the backs who ran in a series of well worked tries with some slick handling moves. The second half though was a different story. Where Dumfries upped their game Marr slackened and only showed flashes of their first half performance. This let Dumfries start to claw back but the margin was too wide and Marr ended well deserved winners, the finals score 38 – 17, the Marr scores coming from; Trys: Connan MacMaster (3), Darcy Rae, Calum Munro, Gregor Scott, Cons: Ross MacDougall (3), Rudi Marshall

This result sees the under 15"s progress to the quarter finals of the cup.

Excellent weather conditions at Cumnock on Sunday suited the running style of Marr u17s. Cumnock started the better and had the majority of possession in the first fifteen minutes but excellent defence kept the Marr line intact. Marr then managed to get some good quick ball from excellent work from the forwards and capitalised with an opening try from Ian Kerr. This ignited the Marr team who continued to play expansive rugby and they were rewarded with further tries from Grant Clark and Ben Gibson. Half time score Cumnock 0 Marr 17. The second half started in the same vein with Cumnock trying to reassert themselves but the Marr defence proved solid. From good pressure, number 8 Ben Gibson intercepted a pass to score a decisive try. Further tries from Marc Tracey and Blair Calderwood rounded off an excellent performance from the whole squad.

The interplay between backs and forward resulted in probably the best display of the season so far. Final score Cumnock 0 Marr 36.

Next game is Strathendrick at home on Sunday 9 November, kick off 2pm - please come along and support the boys, who are playing some excellent entertaining rugby.

Senior training continues on Monday night at Marr College gym and Thursday night at Fullarton Park both at 7pm and anyone wishing to play is welcome to come along and join in.