Lady luck would not shine on Marr’s 1st XV side on a very damp and cold October morning. A late flurry of scoring changed the complexion of the game but unfortunately for Marr, not in their favour.

The Purple and Gold’s squad was wearing extremely thin and this resulted in Marr only being able to field 14 players, due to injuries within the ranks, meaning this was an early setback before the game had even begun. Subsequently Marr were forced to endure early pressure on their backline from Carrick, in their primarily blue strips.

However, the boys from Troon would by no means be pushovers despite being a man light. Some fantastic patient build up play led to the opening try of the match as top try scorer Colin Purdie delivered again. Marr were trying to exploit space to the right hand side of the posts but some swift, sharp and accurate passing managed to find Purdie on the left with more space to attack. He touched the ball over the try line after seeing off two attempted tackles and Marr were 5-0 up. It would stay this way as Jack Scott, stepping up to the plate for the absent Finlay hazel, missed the conversion.

The remainder of the 1st half was a quiet affair with not a lot of action occurring apart from a lot of scrums which came to no avail.
The 2nd period would provide the toughest test for Marr so far this season as fatigue started to set in especially being a man down. The proceedings got underway again and the pattern of the game stayed the same. A very stop-start match with plenty of scrums and line-outs for both sides.

Midway through the half Carrick hit back with a try of their own and likewise missed the follow-up conversion. Some very compact play to the left of the pitch helped the away side take advantage of having an extra player, as the scorer managed to find a small gap through a clutter of bodies and level the match.

Carrick then got a foot hold of the game as they continued to pile more pressure on Marr’s defence. Marr were struggling to get out of their own half and this was hammered home when Carrick got a penalty and decided to try and add to the score line. Despite confidence beginning to build with the away team, they missed the chance to go three points ahead because the wind caught the ball.
Going into the last 10 minutes the intense pressure did pay off for Carrick as they scored another try to break the defensive backline of Marr. The try was almost a carbon copy of their first which shows they were exploiting Marr’s depleted squad to great effect. The conversion was missed again.

This would be the start to what was a dramatic conclusion to a drab game which had little to get excited about.

Marr were determined to have a go and try to get back into the game and they showed brilliant team spirit and desire to do exactly that as Danny McCulloch managed to touch the ball down over the try line with a big stretch. Again, it was similar to the try’s Carrick scored- it might not have been stylish or free flowing rugby but nobody connected to Marr could care. Even more so when Jack Scott scored the conversion to catapult Marr into a 12-10 lead.

It appeared as though the Purple and Gold had snatched the win from Carrick in the dying moments. However, what was practically the last action of the game, Carrick won a penalty and scored to put three points on the board and win 13-12. The ref blew his whistle to end the game shortly afterwards.

Despite all of the Marr player’s efforts, the victory was cruelly taken away from them and it was visible to see the players were gutted. In the end, having one less player on the field did take its toll, especially when Carrick had a sub too. The referee didn’t have the best of games and made a few dubious decisions which did not go in Marrs’ favour. However, the boys can be proud of their efforts against the odds and will know if they had a full team, they could have been victorious.

Next week Marr’s 1st XV travel to QVS.

Match Report - Ewan Paton
Pictures - Clive Watkins

More Pictures available at http://www.siglov.co.uk/Sports/Rugby/Marr-v-Carrick/