Marr 19 - 26 Currie Chieftains

FOR the home side, it was the end of two eras. Four stalwarts in Ben Johnston, Grant Baird, Scott Bickerstaff and Colin Sturgeon played their last game for the 2021-22 Premiership champions – who acted as a nursery for a number of the Ayrshire Bulls and current Ayr side – already knowing that Marr would be playing next season in National League One, so they put on one last show of defiance as they went down swinging against old foes Currie Chieftains in a high-energy encounter.

“This whole week has been about the lads having a bit of a good time and putting a show on for the crowd, and for the four lads who are giving up playing, and we showed a lot of character out there, which was great,” said Marr’s Kenny Diffenthal, as he watched his side nearly complete an outrageous comeback from 5-26 down early in the second half.

“At half-time I just said: ‘There’s 40 minutes then there’s a nice rest, so go out there and leave it all out on the pitch, you don’t want to be left wondering’. And a lot of the younger ones knew they would be coming on for the guys who are giving up, so it was good that the guys who came off the bench made an impact.”

Former captain and star centre Conor Bickerstaff had already retired at the end of season 2023-24, and Fraser Grant left for Australia halfway through of the current campaign, meaning half a dozen of the championship winning side have hung up their boots in the last 12 months. Does the Marr chief think that they’ll be able to compete in National One minus all that experience?

“The players that I’ve spoken to are keen to stick with the club, we might lose one or two outwith the four that are retiring but I’m pretty confident that we’ll have the majority of this squad playing again next year,” he said.

For Currie, today was about getting minutes into some legs and trying out some new things in a game environment, before they come back to Ayrshire for the play-off semi-final against runaway league table toppers Ayr.

“We were looking to put in some of the stuff we’ve been practicing in our attack, try to keep penalties down in defence – we maybe didn’t do that at all times so that’s a frustration from today – and gave some boys who are on the edges a chance to stake a claim for the squad next week, whilst also being able to rest some crucial players,” said Malleny head coach Mark Cairns.

Currie struck effectively off set-pieces from distance for their opening two scores. First, a line-out near halfway saw Wallace Nelson charge through a gap in Marr’s midfield, he got his pass away to Scott Robeson, and a few phases later, Nelson was there to help push Gregor Scougall over the line from close range. Then Ed Hadsell found the gap after a set-play, Sayers weaved into the 22 and Alex Harley finished off.

In between those two scores, a tip tackle on Jake Jacobson saw Bickerstaff punt a penalty to the corner, a smart line-out routine took Marrr close, before Shabaz Khan went over. Much to the ire of Sturgeon, the touch judges didn’t raise their flags for the conversion attempt.

Both sides then went close but were stopped by ferocious defence. Marr’s lengthy spell of possession in the Currie 22 being halted when frustration took over and a man was taken beyond the ruck, then Currie were denied when Bickerstaff smashed Robeson near the Marr try-line, causing the knock-on.

With halftime approaching, Currie were perhaps a little fortunate to extend their lead. The ever-dangerous Charlie Brett found a bit of room down the left to run into, Sayers and Harley supported, and Harley’s offload seemed to go forward to Brett before he cantered off to the line, leavinga Diffenthal and his assistant Stephen Adair shaking their heads in disbelief that it wasn’t called forward.

Currie made sweeping changes at half-time and one of them, in the form of Gregor Christie, was pivotal to the next try, taking a quick tap-penalty before Nelson finished the job, and Sam Leto, on for Harley, kicked the conversion.

The first of two Inglis 50-22 kicks, followed by some hard carrying by the props, allowed Blair Jardine to score, shortly before Roy Vucago saw yellow for a no arms diving chop tackle, only for Marr to miss touch.

Inglis’ second long kick which won his side the line-out which eventually led to a try finished off by Callum Steel, who had replaced the first of the four retirees in Ben Johnston, and Sayers was also sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on in the build-up.

Jardine’s turnover in the shadow of his own posts led to a dramatic counter-attack led by Jacobson, however Jardine then knocked on and Marr’s last chance in the last dance was done.

Currie now look forward to the toughest gig in Scottish domestic rugby: heading to Millbrae, but as reigning champions and the only side to have beaten Ayr in the league this season, Cairns holds no fear.

“Some people felt it was a disadvantage for us to have this game, but there’s not much we could do about it so we used it as an advantage, by practicing some of the things we’ve been doing in training into today,” he said.

“There’s no point in turning up next week if we’re not confident we can win. I’ve got massive respect for Ayr and what they’ve achieved this year but it’s a play-off and we can go there knowing that we have beaten them this year, and why not make it four finals in a row?”

Teams –

Marr: C Inglis; E McAra, S Bickerstaff (c), L Jarvie, J Jacobson; C Sturgeon, G Baird; S Khan, B Sweet, C Miller, C Young, D Andrew, B Johnston, A Orr, B Jardine. Subs: C Steel, A Apthorpe, A King, J Braddock, A Bowler, J Scott, R Maiden

Currie Chieftains: C Brett; I Sim, K Johnston, S Robeson, F Sayers; A Harley, C Lessels; C Anderson, R Vucago, G Scougall, R Davies, A Bain, W Nelson, A Fletcher, E Hasdell. Subs: G Carson, C Ramsay, K Borthwick, S Cardosi, G Christie, S Leto, A McCall

Referee: David Young

Scorers –

Marr: Tries: Khan, Jardine, Sweet; Cons: Sturgeon, Inglis.

Currie Chieftains: Tries: Scougal, Harley, Brett, Nelson; Cons: Harley 2, Leto.

Scoring sequence (Marr first): 0-5; 0-7; 5-7; 5-12 (h-t) 5-17; 5-19; 5-24; 5-26; 10-26; 12-26; 17-26; 19-26.

Yellow Cards –

Currie Chieftains: Vucago, Sayers

Player-of-the-Match: Alex Harley was an early candidate before being removed at half-time, so due to the rugged nature of Currie’s defending and getting himself on the scoresheet, Wallace Nelson takes the last regular season POTM crown.

Talking Point: The four horsemen riding into the sunset of course. There was a small ceremony afterwards presenting them with gift bags, and although the boots are staying in the bag, they’ll be fondly remembered at Fullarton.

Iain Hay for The Offside Line