Date: 20131124
Kick-off: 2:00pm
Venue: Home
Result: 57 - 22
Dumfries /Annan Tigers 57 – Marr College 22
Annan’s Violet Bank ground provided a sunny setting for a great game of flowing rugby between the Dumfries/Annan under-15 squad and their Marr counterparts on Sunday 24th November.
Winning the toss, the visitors elected to receive the kick and with the winter sun sinking in their eyes Marr did well to catch the ball after a few phases of play were turned over with ferocious tackling in midfield. Tigers made full use of the unexpected possession and opened the scoring with a fine team try (unconverted).
Tigers went on to dominate almost every facet of play. Given they had 14 only players on the pitch to the opposition’s full 15, it was impressive how the lads gelled as a team. There were some fine individual performances. Easton showed up well in the loose – Jackson performed bravely in the rucks – while Smith capped an excellent afternoon with a Man of the Match performance. Tigers’ new player C Martin performed well and it was especially encouraging how the more experienced players took him under their wing. By far the most pleasing aspect was the number of tries scored – with a total of 9 to the visitors 4.
Tigers were down to 13 players for a couple of spells during the game when Easton was sin-binned for reacting to a bit of argy-bargy and then Joe took a spell off for a tip tackle
Commenting after the game, the Tigers’ coaches said “the score line shows the Tigers’ attacking potential, but it was the lads’ outstanding defence that won the game. The majority of Marr’s attacks were thwarted in midfield with every one of the Tigers standing up and being counted. The improvement in this week’s performance was evident. We’ll be looking for consistency for next week’s away trip against Ardrossan/Garnock.”
Credit must be given to the visiting players who battled for the entire 60 minutes – but this time the Tigers were stronger and more up for the contest.
Tigers team – Tussler, Davidson, Martin, Robertson, Easton, Ogilvie, Smith, Thomson, Johnstone, Nelson, Wilson, Hair, Jackson, Lamont.