MARR Rugby Club were dumped out of the Scottish Cup in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday - though for their rivals down the road in Ayr it was very much a case of business as usual.
After a two-week break from club rugby for the start of Scotland's autumn international season, both Marr and Ayr were back in action on Saturday - but for the Troon side there was only late agony as they were dumped out of the country's premier knockout tournament by Biggar.
Marr travelled to South Lanarkshire with high hopes of keeping alive their chances of a first Scottish Cup final appearance at Murrayfield since 2023.
A repeat of their league win over Biggar back in mid-September would have done them nicely, but there was to be agony for the visitors at Hartree Mill as Marr fought back in stirring fashion to lead going into the closing stages - only for Biggar to clinch a 25-24 victory right at the death.
The one consolation for the Troon side was the five players who made their debut in the clash and who gave plenty of notice that there are brighter times ahead, starting this Saturday when Marr are out to end a three-match winless league run as they host Musselburgh at Fullarton.
A few miles down the road at Millbrae, meanwhile, Ayr made light of their own two-week hiatus when they returned to Premiership action with a resounding 55-14 victory at home to Hawick - making it nine bonus point wins from nine league matches for Grant Anderson's side.
Ayr led 33-0 at the break, with the try bonus point already safely in the bag, thanks to a pair of tries from Adam McGowan as well as scores from Rhodri Tanner, Fergus Johnston and Seth Rae.
Rory Jackson and Scott Watson added to the score line before Hawick finally got on the board.
Robbie Orr and Ryan Sweeney then touched down either side of another for the visitors to round off an high-scoring affair.
The victory keeps Ayr comfortably atop the regular season standings at the midway point of the campaign, with a trip to Balgray to face Glasgow Hawks next on their agenda.
The area's other men's side, Carrick RFC, will have to wait to get back onto the field after their West Division One tie away at Dalziel was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Next up for the Maybole men is another trip to Lanarkshire, this time to face league leaders Strathaven on November 22.
Into women's rugby and it was a tough weekend for Ayr as they hosted West Division One title challengers Wigtownshire.
The Millbrae outfit fell to a 54-14 defeat and missed a chance to claw back ground on the league's top two.
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