Marr face must- win crunch
Marr face a must- win game at home to Boroughmuir on Saturday after a below- par performance saw them outplayed at Myreside.
Last- minute 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, did not help preparations.
With Rory McGee making his Premiership debut and Ben Johnston returning after his extended break studying in Iceland, on paper Marr had a relatively strong, experienced XV.
Watsonian were augmented by Edinburgh winger Jason Harries, who at 105kg on the hoof was a real handful and scored a brace of tries.
The home side raced ahead with a converted try from their first attack. Marr fought valiantly but Watsonian scrum half Ali Harris made the most of the space available to set up repeated attacks.
Just before the half- hour Jason Harries added try number two. Watsonian were merciless and made good use of any opportunity and Marr were caught on counter- attacks.
Two tries were added before half- time, with the pick being the fourth. A chip, ostensibly into space deep in the 22m area, was fielded by full- back Andrew Chalmers. The ball went through half a dozen pairs of hands before scrum- half Harris touched down.
Early in the second half Watsonian added a further try before a brief rally brought a try in the corner from Scott Bickerstaff ( sponsored by Smart Money).
For the remaining half- hour Watsonian had Marr on the back foot and try after try followed as they laid down their marker for a top four spot.
Marr man of match: Kaleem Baretto ( sponsored by Colin Adam).
The 2nd XV continued their impressive run with a bonus point 22- 14 win against Stewart’s Melville.
Man of the match Curran McMillan was outstanding. Work commitments have meant he has been unable to train or play but he is now likely to be available for the rest of the season as the team head towards what looks like being the season decider against secondplaced Hawick on January 20.
Tries: Gregor Ness, Danny Clark, Jack Scott, Callum Steel. Conversion: Rudi Marshall ( 1).
The 3s had to make do with another training session as the Bearyard was unplayable so the match against Alan Glenn’s was again postponed.
Saturday’s fixtures: 1s home v Boroughmuir; 3s away v Annan 2s.