Just a reminder that due to the Scotland v Argentina trip there will be no training for the P3 to P7’s this Saturday. P1 and P2’s will be training as normal at Marr College from 10:15 to 11:30.

Forthcoming Fixtures

Saturday 8th Nov Training P1 to P2 inside at Marr College / P3 to P7 Training off due to trip to Murrayfield
Saturday 15th Nov Training
Sunday 16th Nov GHA / East Kilbride (Home P3 to 7) - P4 CATERING ROTA
Saturday 22nd Nov Training
Sunday 23rd Nov Birkmyre (Home P3 to 7) - P3 CATERING ROTA
Saturday 29th Nov Training
Sunday 30th Nov Greenock (Away P3 to 7) - P3 CATERING ROTA
Saturday 6th Dec Training
Saturday 13th Dec Training

TROON FOODBANK COLLECTION
Please help local people in crisis by donating to the local food bank .

There will be a collection for the South Ayrshire Foodbank before, during and after the Marr v Hawick Cup tie on Saturday 15 November.

Donations of food are requested – including milk (UHT or powdered), sugar, fruit juice (cartons) pasta sauces, sponge puddings (tinned), cereals, rice pudding (tinned), tea bags, instant coffee, instant mashed potato, rice, pasta, tinned meat/fish, tinned vegetables (not beans), tinned fruit, jam, biscuits or snack bars.

Food can be handed in to the club during the morning of the 15th and the main collection point in the afternoon will be behind the pitch at the Lochgreen end during and after the match.

Dalziel Match Reports

P2 Match Report
With training now moving inside for the P2’s for the winter, it was a small but enthusiastic squad that took advantage of glorious sunshine to trek across the country and sample the delights of Dalziel.

Dalziel were able to provide two teams as cannon fodder for a P2 Marr team wound up by an hour and a quarter in a car eating Halloween sweets (although some had managed to grab a snooze when coach Gregor started to share anecdotes of past rugby try scoring exploits!). With E-numbers high, the boys were soon warmed up & ready to rock.

The whistle had barely sounded when Matthew “The Missile” Gillespie had stormed over for his first try as he feasted on a nasty Dalziel turnover & crashed through, splitting the Dalziel defence. Meanwhile on the sidelines, Fraser I had steam coming out of his nostrils and was eying up the parting defence with relish. Eventually he was unleashed & sidestepped his way through for the second Marr try. With high fives and congratulations being dished out with great enthusiasm, our defence was caught napping which allowed Dalziel to sneak along the lines for their first try. This was like a red rag to a bull though, and Ian took this as a personal insult & stormed the length of the pitch to pull Marr out to a 3-1 lead.

When the second half started, the floodgates opened despite the sun splitting the sky. With Allan pulling the strings in midfield and barking instructions to his team mates about which players they should tackle, his team mates took his advice and attacked. First Fraser I grabbed a couple more tries, then Ian joined in with 2 more, before Matthew finished the game in style with a fine running try. At all times there was great team work and passing being displayed. Fraser B, Finlay and Ben were often getting forward to support and pass. Everyone was also working hard to get back onside when in defence. The first game finished 8-2 in Marr’s favour.

The second game started in the same fashion, with Fraser I (twice) and Matthew getting on the score sheet nice and early and putting the Dalziel team under immense pressure. That was when the boys started to play their best rugby of the day as they started to put a few passing phases together. Finlay got on the end of some really good passes from Allan and Ben to score a great team try. This seemed to really inspire Finlay as in the very next play he latched on to a Dalziel error to run the length of the pitch for a great individual try.

Even though Marr had a healthy half time lead, the boys didn’t want to let up and Ben got on the end of some good build up play by Allan, Fraser B and Ian to score a great try up the middle. Fraser B then burst through the middle and looked like scoring his first try when he was held up just 2 metres from the line. With one of the plays of the day though, Ben had followed Fraser through the middle and was on hand to accept the pass and score his second try. With the end of the game near, and the Dalziel boys starting to tire, there was time for one more play. Fraser I and Allan managed to benefit from a great Finlay tackle to off load to Fraser B who scored his first try in the corner to finish the match 8-2.

The boys really enjoyed their 2 games and the Dalziel hospitality. They are starting to see the importance of working as a team and they are looking forward to getting back inside for training through the winter and sharing their own rugby try scoring anecdotes!

P3 Match Report

2 squads
Jamie Matthew Teydren Ryan Ewan Morrison Bruce
James Robbie Zach Ewan Mathieson Rory Steel

Dalziel were great hosts at the weekend and presented well organised opposition
our boys enjoyed playing longer than usual matches (scoring more tries than usual)

Their best players tested our defence on occasion, it was nice to see our boys having to work at times
this said, at no point did either of our teams trail in any match

Narrow pitches kept play tight and best suited to running the ball in hand
running dangerous lines and careful close passing saw our boys heavily outscore the opposition

Encouraging for coaches to see boys executing rule #2 'win the space behind'
running and offloading well in the danger zone behind their opposite man
(rule #1 is catch the ball)

well done boys!

P4 Match Report

We had 12 P4s on Saturday at Dalziel, which might have meant a lot time off the park, but Dalziel proposed 7-a-side games to get more boys playing and we also filled in for Biggar, who turned up with only 4 boys. Both the playing surface and the weather were perfect for rugby.

Our first game was against Dalziel and we started strongly and continued that way till the end, winning 6-3. After that three of the Marr boys donned Biggar shirts to play with Biggar against Dalziel and they slotted in instantly to the Biggar team, supporting, passing and running in tries. Three more Marr players replaced them at half time and were equally effective and the game was won by the Marr/Biggar combined team 5-4. For the last game Marr took on Biggar - this time boosted by Dalziel players and, with their confidence high, Marr came out comfortable winners 7-3.

The 12 boys were rotated throughout the morning, but it was noticeable that the performance of the team was consistently high whoever was on the pitch and that is promising for the future of this group of players. Tackling remains the biggest challenge but as it improves they should be able to win games more comfortably by preventing tries against them. Scoring tries is not proving so difficult at the moment. Having said that, the defence is definitely improving with more boys coming forward and committing to tackles. A very successful and enjoyable day out.

P5 Match Report

The increasingly strong P5 squad of 11 travelled through to Motherwell to face Dalziel. Two 10 minute each way matches was the offer, gladly taken up by the purples.

Kyle, Ross, Josh, Rhys, Calan and Cole took to the field, with defence and communication the key development points for the game. A bright start in attack with Ross and Josh sprinting over from space, and excellent individual tackling from Cole, Kyle and Ross stopping some promising Dalziel breaks. Rhys was getting into better positions in open play defence, but collectively the restart defence was an issue, with our hosts managing a couple of unopposed bursts through first up tackles, taking the half time score to 2-2.

Adam, Duncan, Joe, Charlie and Ruaridh were introduced at the break with Charlie on 2nd receiver duty. Ross was keen to make up for lost holiday time and he stayed on for the remainder. Well attack was improved, Ruaridh, Adam, Joe and Charlie all popping over for scores, but collective defence was again lacking making the scoreline at good deal closer than it should have been. Final score 6-5 to the Ayrshire raiders.

With Dalziel only having 6 and the name of the game enjoyment for all, Charlie and Ruaridh generously volunteered to turn out for the hosts in game 2. Adam was on 2nd receiver duty, time to really test that Dalziel defence. Charlie was quick to make the most of his colour change with a couple of mazy scoring runs, Adam and Kyle returning the favour for the visitors. Josh came into his own, showing an excellent side step and change of pace to put the purples into credit. Kyle took a couple of heavy tumbles and Charlie caught the attention of the referee with a couple of illegal pilfers in defence. Other highlights included Josh's tackling, Ruaridh's rucking, Joe's darting and Ross' energy. Special mention to Duncan who's tackling improved as the morning went on, and the little blonde bundle of energy Cole, who will surely make a decent scrum half. Calan seemed to enjoy the 1st receiver duties and once again favoured defending against the bigger players,

I would love to report the score in game 2, but with two of our players turning out for Dalziel this observer didn't have enough nouse to count the right number for the right team. Let's call rugby the winner.

So as we move into the final throws of the first half of the season we have a very good side going forward. Runners a plenty, good presentation and offload meaning continuity looks good. However, stronger teams are going to punch holes in the Edam like defending, time for some extra drills I fancy.

Special thanks to Lesley Hunter for the deployment of the Wellington minibus, much appreciated by all.

P6 Match Report

Marr P6 took 17 boys to Motherwell (including those who got lost temporarily, seemingly Livingston is lovely at this time of year!) to play a spirited and robust Dalziel team reduced in number (to 9). The numerical deficiency and Biggar’s no show resulted in 2 Marr teams playing 8 a side, 10 minutes each half, on the narrowest pitch we are likely to see against Dalziel and a Marr Gold v Purple game to finish, to give each player @40 minutes of rugby.

Dalziel v Marr Gold
The Golds consisted of Harvey Broadfoot, Aidan Doak, Angus Fell, James Hillan, Rory Inglis, Aidan Kane, Sean Kelly, Sam Moore and Ben Packard. The game was close throughout, both teams giving good accounts of themselves. The offloading play was good and the tackling was equally effective, Dalziel narrowly edging the win by 3-2.

Dalziel v Marr Purple
The Purples were Charlie Baker, Rory Cattenach, Benn Cowan, Finlay Dunn, Harris Hillier, Andrew Ramage, Alex Young and Murray Atkinson. Aiden Kane and Ben Packard also assisted as replacements during the game, which was a tough old encounter. This was good old fashioned ‘blood and snotter’ stuff, complete with baying crowd, great running/ offloading, meaty scrums and a wee bit of frustration boiling over. Again the game was close but after Marr levelled at 3-3, Dalziel’s tight running saw out the match with a 4-3 win for the home side.

Marr Gold v Marr Purple
The games had been close and psychologically had taken their toll (but not on the players!) The consensus amongst the parents was that it was party time, and that given the quality they had witnessed there were no complaints about travelling to Motherwell for 20minutes of rugby.

Congratulations to Benn Cowan, widely recognised as the most improved player this week.
A special mention must go to the masses of Marr parents who turned up to support the boys in purple & gold, your encouragement is much appreciated.
It should be noted that the coaches were very pleased with the contribution of all the boys, considering the one eyed refereeing! A big thanks is also due to our hosts Dalziel for the spirited atmosphere they created and also the purvey afterwards.

P7 Match Report

Unfortunately P7 Dalziel were away bag packing so Hamilton kindly stepped in to give us two games.

The boys watched a tightly contested Biggar v Hamilton game first with strong defence from both teams resulting in a 1-0 win to Biggar.

Biggar v Marr
Biggar brought a strong well organised team and we lost early tries due to our usual problem of the majority of our team not having their game heads on from the start!! Missed tackle after missed tackle and not protecting the ball in the ruck. Nairn and Donald doing their usual sterling effort of trying to make up for the mistakes by covering the whole pitch to make tackles and Nairn even managed to score a try against the odds. This resulted in a 5-1 score line at half time. Biggar were strong in tackles, defence, rucks managing to keep the ball alive and although we started to make tackles and Nairn managed another run away try the match ended 8-2.

Hamilton v Marr
Same story although we did see some more of the good rugby we know the boys can play – Cameron and Nairn managed to get tries and better drives forward and support were not rewarded as the ball was spilled all too often. Defensive lines also worked when they were used but were just not used all the time. Hamilton scored 9 times with many being a result of those dreaded missed tackles! Match ended 9-2.

Thank you to the boys (Nairn, Stephen, Oly, David, Jamie, Alasdair, Harris, Cameron, Jack, Fergus and Donald) for taking the time and effort to travel to Dalziel – we look forward to seeing the whole team at training on 15th Nov for some hard work on tackling, ball protection and strength!! We know you can play great rugby and so do you!!
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