Kelso go down by 48 points to 14 at Premiership leaders Marr

Kelso director of rugby Neil Hinnigan told the Southern Reporter: “We were well beaten on the day but we gave a reasonable account of ourselves up front.

"We just didn't manage to turn chances into points and then they did take their chances and the scoreboard ran away from us.

"I wouldn’t say that the score maybe reflected the match although Marr were certainly deserved winners on the day.

"There is no doubt about it that Marr away will be one of our hardest games of the season.

"It’s a difficult place to go anyway. They don’t lose many games there.

"We’ve got a lot of young guys getting opportunities so we were maybe not expected to get a lot through there anyway.

"We certainly could have given a better account of ourselves regarding the scoreline. It could maybe have been a lot closer but it's just a case of drawing a line under it.

"The bread and butter for us at the moment is the home stuff. We’ve got to get points and win matches at home to stay in that sort of mid-table position and away from trouble.”

After Kelso went 7-0 behind at Marr after just five minutes to a penalty try, Colin Sturgeon’s penalty put the hosts 10 points ahead.

A Terry Logan try brought Kelso back into it at 10-5, but Marr restored their double-digit advantage through Scott Bickerstaff.

Alex Apthorpe crashed over for another Marr score before the home team lost Callum Folan to the sin bin.

Marr went 20 points ahead in the second half via Sturgeon’s boot, only for Kelso player/coach Bruce McNeil to reply almost instantly from close range.

But first team debutant Calum Smith scored another try for the Troon outfit and Marr added further gloss to the scoreline when Conor Bickerstaff barrelled through the last man from 15m out. He then sent brother Scott through a hole in the Kelso defence off a setpiece move.

Kelso host Selkirk in a league derby this Saturday with kick-off at 3pm.