Our Sponsors...

Marr Rugby  Fixtures & Results

View from the touchline:

Annan RFC 13 Marr Rugby 57

Better but better yet to come

When Marr concentrate on playing rugby they are a joy to watch. After last week’s disappointment the team was determined to make amends and it was unfortunate for Annan that we were in this frame of mind. Our first visit to Violetbank in about 12 years brought us to a tidy wee ground and a very warm and friendly reception from the home support. As the players warmed up the decent sized travelling support admired the surroundings and got to know our hosts.

Recent rain had made the pitch a bit heavy and there was a strong breeze that we had the advantage of in the first half. Marr rang the changes and started with Connor Bickerstaff and Gregor Ness covering the half back positions with Rory McGee berthed at full back.

First blood went to Annan in just three minutes after Marr was penalised for an offside decision. This lifted the home spirits and I’ve little doubt that they didn’t anticipate having to wait another hour before seeing any points added to their tally. This wasn’t through lack of effort and opportunity, it was simply that Marr were stubborn in defence and as the game progressed exerted a stranglehold that was hard to break. Our efforts netted eight tries, seven conversions and a penalty. Annan added two tries to their tally in the final quarter.

Marr’s performance was good and at times sublime. Good decision making allowed us to play in areas of the pitch where we could and did pose a real threat and more often than not we were on the front foot.

It took a while for the first Marr score to come, we tried a number of different options and finally after 20 minutes some good interplay created a gap to allow Scott Bickerstaff to cut through midfield and as the covering defence caught up and brought him down Andy Watson presented himself in support and completed the move with a perfect touchdown.

Annan didn’t have much time to catch breath before they again faced another purple and gold onslaught. Shortly after the restart a Marr scrum just inside Annan’s half provided the platform for a range of attacking options and this time the defence wasn’t able to cope with Scott Bickerstaff’s powerful run down his wing. Over the remainder of the second quarter Marr continued to pile on the pressure but with scant reward other than a converted penalty. As the clock ticked towards half time we got try number three. Annan had conceded a penalty and with Craig Steele on for Calum Craig Marr kicked for the corner. The lineout was executed to perfection and the forwards set off on the advance to Anna’s line in textbook fashion. After delivering his throw-in Stephen Adair assumed position at the tail of the driving maul and as they were driven backwards the defence was unable to prevent him from breaking off to crash over for his first competitive try for Marr. From his display it is very likely that this will be the first of many.

Half time brought respite for Annan and with the wind at their backs for the second half they may have though that things would get easier. Marr though had other ideas and immediately from the restart raised the tempo and were rewarded with another try. From an Annan foray into Marr’s half the ball appeared in the in Fraser Ferguson’s hand. From midway in our half Rhino set off on route one and with a deft touch executed a show and go, that Connor Bickerstaff would have been proud of, to create a huge gap in the defence and he set off to cover the remaining 70 metres to reach Annan’s try line. With the whole touchline urging him on he completed about two thirds of the distance before the cover defence finally managed to catch up and track him down. Their efforts were to no avail as Fraser had Sean Reddox and Scott Bickerstaff in close support and as he was caught he committed defenders to the tackle and offloaded perfectly to Sean who then cleared the final tackler as he offloaded to Scott for his second try.

Marr’s interplay between forwards and backs was starting to sweetly kick in and seriously stretch Annan’s defence. On fifty minutes Marr struck again. A reshuffle brought Rory back to half back and his wide pass to Gregor Ness gave sufficient space for him to again release Scott Bickerstaff who turned the defence and as he entered the red zone offloaded to Sean Reddox who was again in close support and completed the score. Andy Bate came on to replace Gregor Ness and normal business at half back was resumed.

In this period Marr showed some very clever, controlled and intelligent play, using a range of attacking options to great effect. Dougie Steele was in his element and in particular delivered a series of perfectly weighted and directed tactical kicks. Just as we entered the final quarter one of these kicks led to Marr’s next try.

Annan, who to their credit never gave up, found themselves deep in Marr’s half and inside the red zone. Marr’s defensive play won turnover ball that was passed midfield to Dougie to deliver a clearance kick. Dougie saw that there was a gap on the left wing and lobbed the ball into this area knowing that Andy Watson had the pace to pursue the kick. Andy duly obliged with the opportunity and as his opposite number lined himself up to catch Dougie’s kick Andy showed a new addition to his extensive repertoire when, using the words of Bill McLaren, he "leapt like a salmon", took the ball midair and completed the remaining 70 metres in record time with the defence unable to get anywhere near him.

Annan scored next and their try was just reward for their continued efforts. A midfield break and strong support created enough space in Marr’s defence to allow the score. Marr immediately responded in kind with Connor Bickerstaff touching down.

The final ten minutes brought two more tries with one apiece for each side. Marr’s final score was courtesy of another whole team effort that finally saw the ball fed to Scott Bickerstaff who rounded off his day with his third try. Annan though were determined to compete for the full eighty minutes and gained another justly deserved try just before the end of the match. This came from a scrum 5m out and power play from the forwards eventually told and gained five points.

We know little about Annan but looking back at their results last season they have a decent record at home and watching their style of rugby it’s easy to understand why this has been achieved. They have some strong forwards and their half backs, especially at stand off control the play well. That is when they get the opportunity and unfortunately for them they found that Marr weren’t inclined to allow them to try to control the match in their normal fashion.

A good result that sets us up neatly for our next challenge, when we play host to league leaders and near neighbours Irvine as they visit Fullarton on Saturday.

Be on the touchline to support Marr Rugby.

The future is bright...

Only Logged In Users can post comments on fixtures…

Login or Register Now