The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Little consolation as High are swept aside
The only good news for Dundee High Rugby on Saturday was that the two sides below them in Tennent’s National League 1, Hamilton and Cartha QP, both lost.
Apart from that the Mayfield men had to contemplate a match in which they were outplayed, outgunned and left scoreless by Marr whose 35-0 win took them to the top of the table.
The Troon men were welcoming back No 10 Colin Sturgeon after a year in New Zealand and he soon got on the board when he converted Richard Dalgleish’s opening try after seven minutes.
He had an even bigger say in extending the lead, scoring himself then converting at the end of the first quarter.
Marr were in almost complete control and with the half-time whistle about to go, some slick interpassing between Findlay Hazel and Scott Bickerstaff saw Bickerstaff cross for Sturgeon to bring up a halftime scoreline of 21-0.
Dundee’s misery was compounded in the 60th minute when they were mercilessly shunted off their own ball close to the line for Fraser Grant to get the touch down.
And 10 minutes later it was a Connor McMillan thrust which set up the final try for Liam McLaughlin and with Sturgeon converting both, his return was heartily celebrated by Marr while Dundee were left contemplating a defeat which was all the more alarming since they didn’t manage to trouble the scorer.
League rugby takes a break next week but it must be with some trepidation that an injury-ravaged Dundee visit Millbrae to face Premiership leaders Ayr in the cup.
For the second week running Kirkcaldy were blown away by an early burst of scoring and by halftime Selkirk were 29-17 ahead.
Kirkcaldy weren’t totally out of it but, by the end of the 55-36 defeat, two things stood out – Kirkcaldy managed to score six tries from Scott Anderson, Conor Littlejohn, Josh Laird, Tim Kennedy, Matthew Harvey and Sean Laing with Finlay Smith landing three conversions but those six tries were equalled by one Selkirk player alone.
Darren Clapperton ending an outstanding performance with a double hat-trick of his own with Henry Bithary, Luke Pettie and Dan Nichol all getting on the scoresheet.
Aaron McColm and Bithery shared the kicking spoils to keep Selkirk in the hunt for a top-two spot, while Kirkcaldy hover nervously above the drop zone in ninth, too close for comfort to the three tams below them, including Dundee.
At Sunnyside, Howe of Fife had a try in each half in their National 2 clash with Falkirk but it was to no avail as the home side took a 29-7 half-time lead on to a 60-14 full time scoreline.
James Lawrie had a try for Howe in the first half and Andrew Harley one in the second, with Dylan Suttie converting both, but try doubles from the Faulds brothers, Glen and Connor, Fionn Call and Connor Hazlett with one apiece for Ewan Rooney and Gregor Ramsay saw the home side haul away to a more than comfortable win.
Howe sit bottom of the table and probably the most concerning thing for the team, apart from a monumental injury list, is that they are conceding an average of well over 50 points per game.
It is going to be a long and hard second half of the league campaign for the men from Duffus Park.
REGIONAL