Marr Rugby’s first outing of 2015 started brightly and when the first half ended with a scoreline of 19 – 13 in Watsonians favour a promising second half was being looked forward to. However as darkness arrived the first twenty minutes or so of the second half brought an uncharacteristic slump in Marr play and during this Watsonians confidence increased and they repeatedly scored with ease to gain an unassailable position.

The first 40 minutes had Marr comfortably in the ascendency in possession, pressure and territory. Despite continuing injuries and unavailability, the squad commanded the set piece and, in particular the scrum, and from this platform posed some significant questions of Watsonians defence. The home side responded well and frequently disrupted good attacking opportunities. In the scrum Marr’s front row of William Farquhar, Stephen Adair and Fraser Ferguson were causing so much problems for their opposite numbers that quickly the Watsonians coach started to change his line up to try to ease the pressure.

Marr took an early lead after a penalty converted by Rory McGee on four minutes. On the quarter hour and against the run of play Marr were caught napping. A midfield scrum on a Watsonians put-in seemed to have been disrupted but as Marr waited for the referee’s whistle Watsonians correctly played on and the concentration lapse was enough to create space for a scything burst through as the ball was played wide. Winger Ben Robbins showed why he is on Scottish Rugby’s Elite Development Programme as he produced electric pace to scorch through for a converted try.

Marr quickly responded and got into a promising position following breaks by Ben Johnston and Paul Burke. This released Stuart Howie (sponsored by Fusion Sportswear) but he was stopped close to the line. From the resultant penalty Marr tried to press forward but found Watsonians pack – well marshalled by experienced Rory Drummond – unwilling to see their line breached. Desperate defence was at times penalised or in the frantic moments unpunished but Marr’s rewards for their efforts were restricted to three points from another McGee penalty.

At the start of the second quarter Watsonians again showed their threat with a second try that disappointingly came as Marr looked for a decision from a midfield scrum. With no whistle Watsonians centre Andrew Calmer sliced deep into Marr’s territory and was unstoppable. The try was unconverted.

Marr responded quickly and again power play from the forwards brought play close to Watsonians line. With set piece dominance Marr was content to opt for close range scrums as Watsonians were repeatedly penalised. Eventually the referee was left with little option but to award a penalty try and in the process send Watsonians Drummond to the sin bin. With only 10 minutes of the first half left things looked very positive for Marr. They continued to put Watsonians defence under the cosh but could find no way to breach the final yards as the home side held firm. As Marr pressed forward they left themselves vulnerable to a quick break and counter-attack. They were punished as the home side pounced on turnover ball and eventually Chad Northwick showed great power and lines of running to take play to the other try line and score just as the half time whistle sounded.

This score was the turning point; acting as a catalyst for a resurgence from Watsonians and at the same time seemed to leave Marr somewhat off the boil. From the start of the second half Watsonians showed a new zest and punished Marr at every opportunity. Getting off to the perfect start with a quick try helped this case. Marr’s case wasn’t helped with the loss to injury of Ben Johnston and Stephen Adair, quickly followed by William Farquhar and Scott Nimmo. However none of this should deflect from some superb play from Watsonians who showed exactly what playing at pace and with precision would produce.

Over twenty minutes they added three tries and two penalties to stretch their lead. During this Marr was reduced to 14 men as Rory McGee earned a 10 minute period in the sin bin after his desperate efforts to stop a try was punished. With ten minutes remaining Watsonians further stretched their lead with a penalty before Marr finally managed to get a rare attacking opportunity into home territory and quick play left Scott Bickerstaff and Stuart Howie bearing down on Watsonians line. With a two on one option Scott was able to score an unconverted try.

As Marr showed some signs of finally getting back up to the pace and intensity of the game they were again stung by a quick try from Watsonians that ended the scoring.

For Marr this was an early lesson that the players will need to quickly learn from. Injuries happen and it’s important that the full squad is able to step up and compete for the whole 80 minutes. Mistakes will be punished and in this higher league Marr can no longer expect to be the side delivering all of the lessons.

Marr man of the match: Paul Burke (sponsored by A1 Skips)

Marr scorers
Tries: Penalty (1) and Scott Bickerstaff (1)
Conversions: Rory McGee (1)
Penalties: Rory McGee (2)