MARR coach Craig Redpath lauded the efforts of his men after the Ayrshire outfit produced a performance brimming with character to lift the Tennent’s Premiership trophy in yesterday’s play-off final.
Redpath’s side had to overcome the fact that they had lost twice to yesterday’s opponents during the regular campaign, and Chieftains had the benefit of home advantage for the decider.
However, they were equal to that task, and outscored the home side by five tries to three, as well as delivering a defensive effort brimming with determination as spirited Chieftains battled to get back into the game.
Marr led 17-13 at half time through tries from Blair Jardine and Brandon Sweet, both converted by Colin Sturgeon, who also booted a penalty. Cairn Ramsay touched down for the hosts and Sam Leto kicked the other points.
Marr skipper Fraser Grant bagged Marr’s next try and by full time was joined on the score sheet by Craig Miller and Sturgeon, who kicked the rest, while Joe Reynolds and Ryan Daley had tries for Chieftains.
“I thought we were physically very good and I felt we could score when we got near them – I think both teams could say that”, said Redpath. “I’m just delighted with how we performed. I knew it was coming. There was a couple of times we should have killed it off. Our defence worked so hard. Just so happy for everybody.”
A Covid outbreak among the coaches in the home camp meant injured player, Gregor Hunter, was calling the shots from the sidelines. However, he made no excuses, saying, “We were communicating all the time. They were watching the livestream. The coaches have done loads of prep up to this point anyway and the players were ready. It didn’t really impact us too much.
“When we had possession of the ball, I thought we looked really dangerous, we just struggled to keep a hold of it in the right areas. Full credit to Marr, I thought they were really good with the ball in hand, a really strong forward pack and their defence was really solid, so well done to them.
“The guys gave everything they had. It just wasn’t our day. We managed to win the league, but when you get to these finals it’s tight. It comes down to fine margins and unfortunately we just didn’t manage to get ourselves on the right side of those.”
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