BT Premiership:

WATSONIANS 64

MARR RUGBY 5

BELOW par Marr First XV suffered a miserable start to the new year as par after being outplayed by a very impressive Watsonians side who have improved greatly since the clubs met earlier in the season.

The hosts defended well and were always alert and alive to attacking opportunities that presented.

With only five matches remaining the 1st XV need to get back onto winning ways and Saturday’s home match against Boroughmuir is a must-win.

Last minutes changes including Neil Wallace being drafted up from the 2s to cover prop on the bench due to Fraser Ferguson’s withdrawal due to illness didn’t help Marr’s preparations.

With Rory McGee making his Premiership debut and Ben Johnston returning after his extended break studying in Iceland, on paper Marr was fielding a relatively strong and experienced XV.

Watsonians were at full strength and augmented by the services of Edinburgh winger Jason Harries, who at 105kg on the hoof was a real handful and, who scored a brace of tries.

Watsonians got off to a perfect start with a try scored from their first attacking opportunity. From a lineout they executed a training ground move to take the ball off the top and ship it infield. From the first tackle they quickly recycled and spreading wide they scored in the corner. The conversion followed. For the next 20 or so minutes, Marr valiantly fought their way towards Watsonians line but on repeated occasions were repelled by determined defence and found themselves chasing back to cover counter-attacks. Watsonians scrum half Ali Harris was in great form and made the most of the space available to set up repeated attacks which placed Marr under real pressure.

Just before the half hour a gap was finally exposed and Jason Harries added try number two. Marr were forcing passes and plays that inevitably led to loss of hard earned possession.

The visitors kept getting caught on counter-attacks. Two tries were added before half-time with the pick being the fourth, which demonstrated Watsonians growing confidence. A promising attack from Marr took play deep into Watsonians half. A chip – ostensibly into space deep in the 22 metre area was fielded by full-back Andrew Chalmers who opted to launch a counter-attack. An excellent passing move in which the ball went through half a dozen pairs of hands ended with scrum-half Harris touching down to score.

Marr’s cause was killed off early in the second half as Watsonians added a further try. A brief rally followed and the efforts were rewarded by a Scott Bickerstaff score in the corner.

Spurred back into offensive action by that reminder that Marr were not quite a spent force, Watsonians delivered a swift response and for the remaining half hour they had Marr repeatedly on the back foot. Inevitably try after try followed. Watsonians laid down their marker for a top four spot while Marr were disappointed in failing to play as well as they knew they could.

BT Reserve Nationa League Two

STEWART's MELVILLE 14

MARR RUGBY 22

THE Marr second string continued their impressive run of results with a bonus point win against Stewart’s Melville which helped them retain top spot/

Along the way Curran McMillan was outstanding in his attacking and defensive work and is a great addition to the squad. Work commitments have meant that Curran has been unable to train and/or play but a change in circumstances means he’s now likely to be available for the rest of the season. The timing is ideal as the side head towards what looks like being the season decider against second placed Hawick on January 20.

Scorers

Tries: Gregor Ness, Danny Clark, Jack Scott, Callum Steel

Conversion: Rudi Marshall (1)

Marr 3's scheduled Reserve League West Two match at Allan Glen's was postponed owing to waterlogged pitches.