WITH Marr’s 1st and 2nd XV’s match plans wiped out by the weather conditions which make Fort Matilda and Old Anniesland unplayable it was left to the 3rd XV to deliver Marr’s rugby action.

Scheduled to play Bishopton in a league match they had to quickly find alternative opponents after Bishopton called off. Kilmarnock obliged and took the opportunity to field as composite 2nd and 3rd XV side against Marr’s third string. This allowed some of their seconds the opportunity to gain match fitness. However, the sceptics view might be that Kilmarnock was intent on starting to reversing the two previous victories Marr’s 3rds had inflicted earlier in the season.

Faced with this challenge Marr struggled for most of the match to compete against the intensity of Kilmarnock’s play. Possession and territory were Kilmarnock’s for the taking and it was only some desperate defence that kept the scoreline Marr 0 – Kilmarnock 5 after an hour of play. Marr’s cause wasn’t helped with a production line of injuries that caused disruption to a normally fluid performance.

As the match entered the final stages Marr finally managed to achieve some decent continuity of play and possession. Until then their standouts had been Ali Hazel and Chris Myers who showed a mixture of pace, guile and strength to cause problems to Kilmarnock’s defence.

Entering 70 minutes Marr’s forwards found some continuity of possession and this led to a number of phases that saw play cross Kilmarnock’s line. Ruari McMillan was in possession as a maul collapse over the whitewash however, Kilmarnock’s protestations only saw Marr being awarded a penalty try which player/coach/captain Andy Mathieson comfortably slotted home. This meant that Marr assumed a 7 – 5 lead and despite intense Kilmarnock pressure they clung on to make it a clean sweep over their local rivals.

Marr scorers: Penalty try – Ruari McMillan (1) Conversion -= Andy Mathieson (1) Marr rugby fixtures – Saturday 8 Feb: Free weekend due to 6 nations. See Marr Rugby website for future fixture information.