After almost 15 months without any competitive Rugby our P7-U15 squads were back in action with a Wednesday evening fixture against Ayr RFC. After such a challenging period for everyone it was fantastic to see so many smiling faces on both sides as the lads got back to doing what they love. We were also incredibly pleased to see so many new faces getting their first taste of competitive Rugby.

Match Reports below:

P7
On a glorious evening for Rugby the P7's got proceeding underway at the Playing Fields, Ayr started the stronger and raced into an early lead in the opening quarter. They seemed to get to grips with the full sized pitch and 13 a side game much faster. As the game moved into the second period Marr began to get a foot hold and started to play some great rugby, moving the ball to space and creating chances. Ayr were a powerful side and showed some excellent breakdown work, Marr got back into it and scored some excellent tries. The Marr coaches were incredibly pleased with the effort from their players and just happy to see the team back on the pitch.

S1
Marr arrived for this match with a squad of 31 players to take on a really well drilled and strong Ayr side. As the game kicked off Ayr asserted their physical power early on winning a number of turnovers at the breakdown, it took a few minutes for the boys to get to terms with the big pitch and additional space with Ayr scoring 3 early tries. As the 2nd period kicked off Marr rolled on an entirely new squad who had seen what Ayr were doing in the opening period and knew how to deal with it, Ayr had a few really skilful and powerful players who couldn't be stopped. As the game moved into the final 2 quarters it became a much more even game with some excellent tries on both sides. The Marr coaches were incredibly happy with the teams performance, with 10 players playing their first game of Rugby and all boys getting plenty of game time it was a great night.

S2
In similar fashion to the S1's our S2's had a huge squad assembled for this match and could have easily fielded 2 sides with subs. The coaches selected sides with a mix of experience and new faces and they hit the ground running scoring some excellent tries in the opening period, some of the ball play and offloading was a pleasure to watch. As the other squad came on for the second period they carried on from where the lads had left off with more great ball movement and breakdown work. Unfortunately a few of the Marr lads were left without much game time due to a serious injury to an Ayr player which stopped the game early, we all hope he recovers soon. The coaches were really impressed with how quickly the boys got things going after such a long lay off.

U15
This was a really even contest played down at the Playing fields with Ayr just edging the win over the three periods. The level of physicality was incredibly high from both teams as they fought for every metre. The opening period was a really tight affair with each team scoring 2 tries, Ayr pulled away in the second period before Marr pegged it back to just 1 score in it by fulltime. It was great to see such a large Marr squad assembled and boys getting plenty of game time in their first game for 15 months. The teams meet again in a few weeks time and it should be another cracker.

This was a hugely positive step forward for our Youth section and we were all delighted to see our players get back out onto the Pitch. We have more fixtures lined up throughout June which we will keep you posted with, U18 squad is in action against GHA this Saturday.