BT Cup Third Round

MARR RUGBY 37

DUNDEE HIGH RUGBY 14

MARR Rugby’s most successful season ever reached another milestone. Saturday’s break from league business and switch to cup action meant an encounter against third placed Dundee and Marr’s win provided the reward of a quarter-final fixture against high flying Premiership side Glasgow Hawks.

This season Hawks narrowly missed out on one of the top four league spots that would have allowed them to compete in the Premiership play-offs so will present a significant challenge for Marr’s young side.

Marr Rugby’s starting line-up included Aaron Rankin (sponsored by Mono Consultants) making his first start of the season at centre with Andrew Gault providing backs cover on the bench.

The hosts got off to a good start. Early pressure took play deep into Dundee’s half and gained a penalty advantage that Colin Sturgeon converted.

Dundee immediately hit back with a well worked try that gave a sharp reminder of the threat they posed. From an attacking scrum just outside Marr’s 22m area number eight Gavin Hugan’s pick up and break and interplay with fast paced and quick thinking scrum half Andy Dymock sliced open the home defence and gained a converted try.

In 15 minutes another promising Marr attack close to Dundee’s line was illegally disrupted at the breakdown and referee Mike Adamson issued a yellow card to Dundee’s Patrick Hamilton. Marr opted to take the three points and narrow the gap. At times during the following 10 minutes it was difficult to tell that Dundee were actually a man down as they applied pressure on Marr’s defence and disrupted attacks. Their forwards were impressive at the breakdown and lively backs, in particular winger Ronan Joy and fullback Cammy MacCrimmon, gave notice of their pace and incisive running.

Towards the end of the ten minute period Marr finally managed to capitalise on the player advantage. As Ben Johnston’s burst forward was halted he offloaded to Scott Bickerstaff and the attacking move continued with Gregor Ness and Aaron Rankin opening up space for Stuart Howie (sponsored by Fusion Sportswear)to jinx and speed in and score a converted try.

Marr added a second try ten minutes later after a missed tackle allowed Scott Bickerstaff to make the most of some open space and race to the line from halfway. Marr’s third came just before half time and after some great interplay involving both wingers with Stuart Howie getting the touchdown to leave the score Marr 25 Dundee 7.

At the start of the second half Dundee gave another reminder of their potent threat when they added a second try scored by captain Alan Brown whose charge from a close range line out was unstoppable. As play entered the final quarter Marr’s man of the match Colin Sturgeon added to his points tally with a converted try after shimmied to create space and race in from 25 metres.

During the final 15 minutes Dundee had the edge on possession and territory as they chased the game and applied pressure to Marr’s defence. However the home defence held firm and in one of their few attacking opportunities Marr sealed the win with a try scored by Ben Johnston who powered over in the corner.

The win means Marr' Rugby's 1st XV's league campaign is put on hold and the scheduled match against Stewart's Melville will have to be re-arranged as the cup quarter-final tie takes precedence and sees Marr welcome Glasgow Hawks to Fullarton on Saturday.

Marr Rugby man of the match Colin Sturgeon (sponsored by Bricktrain Ltd)

BT Cup Third Round

STIRLING COUNTY 18

AYR 32

AYR heaved a huge sigh of relief after this cup success as It was a tricky match for all sorts of reasons, writes Elena Hogarth.

Rained off the previous week, there was a doubt about when it would go ahead as Ayr had six key players involved in Scotland Club XV and Scotland U20s games on Friday night. But go ahead it did and three of those six – Ross Curle, Pete McCallum and Rob McAlpine – put in two shifts in twenty-four hours.

The hosts had the best of the first half, scoring two tries through Glasgow Warriors centre Sam Johnson and winger Jonny Hope, who converted one and added a penalty.

But it was a bad-tempered affair at times and young Stirling hooker Cameron Fenton will surely regret the moment of madness that saw him pounce on Ayr prop Javan Sebastian and commit an act of foul play that resulted in him being red-carded.

There were further sendings-off, with Ayr and County getting two yellow cards each.

Stirling dug their heels in and did well when down players. But Ayr showed their class when they were up against it. Sebastian was none the worse for his encounter with Fenton, barging over for a try in the first half.

McCallum, looking remarkably fresh after his try-scoring feats during the Club XV win at Netherdale the night before, got on the scoresheet too. He set up another with a perfect pass to Frazier Climo, who raced off up the wing for a stunning score. He was on kicking duty too, adding three conversions and two penalties.

Ayr’s final try to seal a scrappy win came from debutante Craig Stevenson, who snaffled possession and dived over in the corner. Along with fellow 2nd XV regulars David Young and Craig Brown, he put in an excellent performance.

Ayr will now play surprise package GHK in the quarter-finals at Millbrae on Saturday.

Ayr head coach Calum Forrester was full of praise for his players sand said:"This game showed our team spirit, especially as we had players tired from the Scotland Club XV match. It was a good first appearance by Craig Stevenson, and a hugely important game for the whole club as we build up to the knock-out stages of the cup and the league.’

Ayr Ladies beat Kirkcaldy 53-19 to stay joint top of the BT National 1 table. The U18 boys beat Glasgow Hawks 41-5 to progress to the quarter-finals of the West Regional Cup, and the U16s followed them there with a 52-0 win against Newton Stewart.