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Marr Rugby  Fixtures & Results

View from the touchline

Marr Rugby - 17 GHK RFC - 20

Disappointing day at Fullarton

As we entered the final quarter of what had been a close and closely fought match few would have anticipated the final outcome. Marr, leading 17 – 3, lost a player to a yellow card and GHK spurred on by the extra man advantage took the match by the scruff of the neck and rattled in three tries during the 10 minutes ‘sin-binning’to assume the lead and clung onto this until the final whistle.

As predicted it was a well balanced match with both sides keen to play open rugby and there was a fair ebb and flow with Marr slightly achieving ascendency and on way scoring three tries to the loss of a single converted penalty, before the 10 minutes nightmare. GHK, started very well and pinned Marr back in their own half but couldn’t find the final way through some solid defensive work. After ten minutes of play Marr got their first real opportunity to go onto the front foot and great work from Kris Kirk, combining with Ritchie McNicol, gave space to Scott Bickerstaff to slice his way through GHK’s defence and provide the scoring pass to Rory McGee, who converted his own touchdown.

GHK responded immediately with further attacks but a mixture of solid tackling and poor handling gave them little return and with twenty minutes gone they elected to kick a penalty attempt at goal and were rewarded with three points. During these opening phases their full back Tony Herron gave early signs of the attacking threat that he posed.

Just on the half hour Marr claimed their second try. Following what seemed like an age of aerial ping pong we finally took the ball in hand to test GHK’s defence and after several probes using orthodox methods we found it was holding reasonable well. Few yards were being gained and despite our best efforts no gaps were emerging as GHK stood firm and kept their shape. Creativity was needed and Rory McGee took the lead with a great running line that confounded and created just enough space to him to deliver a perfect pass to Scott Bickerstaff who had timed and angled his supporting run to perfection to let him score near the corner.

The final minutes of the first half saw Marr continue to challenge GHK’s defence but with no reward. Half time Marr 12 – GHK 3.

At the start of the second half it was GHK’s turn to apply the pressure but Marr’s defence held and as things started to equalise and then turn in favour of the home team we scored our third try. From a set piece we probed up the blind side and Connor Bickerstaff made a telling break that created the space for an offload to Scott Bickerstaff, who again pinned back his lugholes and attacked GHK’s line. His pace and angle were sublime and despite frantic efforts the defensive cover found him unstoppable and he crossed to touch down for his second try of the day.

With Marr now sitting on what seemed to be a comfortable lead we continued to probe GHK’s defence seeking more points. Only some increasingly physical defence prevented us adding to our tally and there was a growing sense of frustration in both sides. With sixty minutes on the clock the referee elected to cool things down by giving Paul Burke, who throughout the match had been a thorn in GHK’s side, a yellow card. GHK immediate took the chance on offer and made the most of the following ten minutes to throw everything at Marr. Tony Herron emulated Scott Bickerstaff’s performance and created havoc in Marr’s defensive efforts. A yellow card advantage usually equates to a 7 point benefit to the side with the extra man. GHK capitalised on this almost three of racking up 17 points as we struggled to keep our shape. The final ten minutes saw Marr try to regain the advantage but GHK’s defence held firm.

A sore lesson for Marr in this the first league game of the season. Our disciplinary record is very impressive and you have to go back almost a year to find the last time we had someone ‘sin-binned’. We need to make sure we keep all 15 players on the park but also need to be able to adjust and handle circumstances that leave us short.

A good team quickly picks itself up, takes onboard the learning points and moves forward. Marr is a good team so there is little point on dwelling on “if only” and/or “what if?”

We have been working hard, on and off the field, to be prepared for what will be a demanding season. There is growing support and everyone has a role to play in delivering success for Marr. This ranges from the sponsorship provided by the like of the Hillhouse Quarry Group and Donald Ross (Estate Agents) whose contributions have helped kit out the senior squads, to all those valiant Marr supporters on the touchline who need to continue adding their voice to give us the edge during what will be closely fought encounters over the coming weeks.

We need to concentrate on getting ready for our next test, away to Annan, and make sure that we can close games off to give good ‘purple and gold’ outcomes.

The future is bright...

PS - correction to last week’s report it was the other blond haired Tasmanian devil from the front row who actually scored the try accredited to Ritchie so many apologies to Stuart Millar.

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