Tennent’s Premier League: Marr Rugby 43 – Jed-Forest RFC 12
Tennent’s West Reserve League 1: Marr Rugby 28 – Glasgow Accies 0 (Accies unable to field team)

Match sponsor Zoo Sport

Match reports to follow

See 1st XV pictures here and courtesy of Ken Ferguson here and James Stevenson here and Susan Provan here

See all the tries here.

Summary: In the first of the reverse fixtures Marr Rugby’s 1st XV march continued with a convincing with against Jed-Forest, scoring seven tries along the way.

From the start Marr dominated and early pressure was rewarded on 10 minutes when Conor Bickerstaff opened the scoring. Five minutes later Benedict Grant added a second as Marr’s pack’s raw power overwhelmed Jed’s forwards. Seven minutes later a rare incursion by Jed into Marr’s half was rewarded with their only score of the first half. Marr quickly responded and winning the restart set up an attack that was finished by Mackenzie Pearce (sponsored by AG Peters. Garage) as he grabbed the first of his brace of tries for the day. With half-time approach Jack Preston secured the bonus point try for Marr as he sniped his way over from a breakdown close to Jed’s line. The scoring position had been established after a trademark break by Wil Farquhar who was unlucky not to make the line himself as he bulldozed his way through Jed’s defence gaining almost 20 metres before being stopped.

In the second half Mackenzie Pearce was on the ball as Marr’s pack hammered at and finally punched a hole in Jed’s defence. Jed kept working to try to get some decent possession to allow attack and Gregor Young added their final score of the day. Jed’s defensive work-rate went into overdrive as they battled to withstand repeated Marr attacks. Marr’s pressure eventually told and was rewarded with tries from Fraser Grant and Scott Bickerstaff.

Marr’s determination and focus was exemplary and a great example was the final play covering tackle by Cody Cunningham as he prevented Lewis Young from scoring after he’d crossed Marr’s try line. Cody nailed Lewis with a ferocious man and ball tackle that dislodged the ball and knocked it into touch.

The result meant that Marr had successfully made their fourth defence of the prestigious Bill McLaren Shield. Introduced in 2011 in memory of the famous rugby commentator the holders require to make four successful defences at home before they earn the right to have their name engraved on the trophy. Over the past eight years only five other clubs have achieved this and Marr Rugby’s 1st XV will be able to reflect with pride the fact that they became one of the few groups of players to achieve this accolade as they added another chapter to Marr Rugby history.

See post-match celebrations video here

Next week Marr will take the Shield on the road to Musselburgh as they now have to defend it for home and away fixtures.

Marr Rugby 1st XV man of the match – Benedict Grant (sponsored by MOR Construction)

Marr Rugby 1st XV scorers
Tries: Conor Bickertsaff; Benedict Grant; Mackenzie Pearce (2); Jack Preston; Fraser Grant and Scott Bickerstaff.
Conversions: Colin Sturgeon (2)

Marr Rugby’s 2nd XV’s league match against Glasgow Accies didn’t go ahead after Accies conceded the fixture. Instead the 2s travelled to Kilmarnock for a friendly and had a good run out and comfortable win.

Marr Rugby next fixtures (30.11.19) – 2pm kick-offs
1s – Away v Musselburgh
2s – Home v Hillhead Jordanhill
3s Away v Clydesdale