QVS v Marr College U18s

Marr U18s travelled to Dunblane to play the team from Queen Victoria School on a dry morning but with a touch of autumn in the air. Marr started well and put early pressure on the QVS line. However, it was QVS who scored first, who, after gaining field position into the Marr twenty-two, took a quick tap penalty allowing the right winger to score in the corner. 5-0 to the home team.

Marr came back and a good offload to Press on his own ten metre line provided him space to burst through and score under the posts. The successful conversion put Marr in the lead 7-5. Murray Blair, in for the unavailable Mackenzie Smith, was playing well with Press and McCulloch in the back row who were making a number of turnovers and carrying the ball forward. Sandy Morgan, in for only his second game this season following a period out, also helped to shore up the midfield defence and provided a cutting thrust in attack.

Marr pinned QVS close to their line and after a number of forward drives Press went over for his second try. The successful conversion made it 14-5 to Marr. The whistle went shortly thereafter for half time.

The second half took a similar form to the first with Marr having the bulk of the pressure in the QVS half with the home team only occasionally breaking free and threatening the Marr line. A turnover won by Morgan took Marr into the QVS twenty two and after a period of intense pressure Ethan Reilly dived over for a try that was converted by Paterson. 21-7 to Marr.

A move in midfield again allowed Press space and he had the speed and strength to beat a number of defenders and complete his hat-trick. Again the kick from in front of the posts was successful. This made the final score 28-5 to Marr. A good performance but with the amount of territory in the opponents twenty two the team have to work on being more clinical and put away the scoring opportunities which they have worked hard to create.