Marr College may be out of the Brewin Dolphin Plate competition but the Troon school showed they are still a powerful force with a 19-7 defeat of St Columba??s, from Kilmacolm, to mark the final game on Marr??s traditional first XV pitch.

Marr College may be out of the Brewin Dolphin Plate competition but the Troon school showed they are still a powerful force with a 19-7 defeat of St Columba??s, from Kilmacolm, to mark the final game on Marr??s traditional first XV pitch.

Marr have invested in a new pitch, but there was more than a trace of sadness surrounding the last game on the history-laden turf. ??Marr said an emotional goodbye to the pitch which so many talented players have graced but an impressive victory made it a celebratory occasion,?? said Marr??s media spokesperson, Ewan Paton.

In difficult conditions and in front of a large crowd, Marr scored three tries; the winger Ryan Fitzpatrick opened the scoring and Callum Steele and Robbie Stevenson following up with two of the tries converted by Jack Scott.

St Columba??s had been hoping to bolster their confidence ahead of their Brewin Dolphin Under-18 National Plate quarter-final against Kelvinside Academy but will derive some consolation from knowing that the Balgray side also suffered a defeat, beaten 13-5 by Glasgow Academy, whose points came from a try by Callum Taylor and the conversion and two penalties by Murray Drover.

St Aloysius College??s recent momentum was checked by a resurgent Heriot??s in close and tense game at Goldenacre that resulted in a 7-5 win for the Edinburgh school. ??We had most of the possession but made some wrong decisions playing into the wind,?? said Mark McKenzie, the St Aloysius head coach.

In another east v west match, Edinburgh Academy continued a successful season for the New Field side by inflicted a 38-12 defeat on High School of Glasgow. Ben Appleson, Academy??s full-back, scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked four conversions.

High School of Glasgow have a final match this term on Saturday when they face Carrick Academy. The South Ayrshire school was without a first XV fixture at the weekend but their under-16 side confirmed Carrick??s growing strength with a 53-12 win over Belmont House.

Signing off for 2014 were two of the big players in the Scottish schools game, Merchiston Castle and George Watson??s College. In their third meeting of the season, Watson??s repeated their Scottish Schools Cup final win over Merchiston with a 25-15 success to make it 2-1 overall in wins.

Robbie Nairn, the Scotland under-18 wing, scored one try for Watson??s whose other came from back-row Jonny Goldring and stand-off Kerr Stoddart, who kicked two penalties and two conversions. For Merchiston, No.8 Gary Mercer and centre Stafford McDowall crossed for tries and scrum-half Dan Nutton kicked a penalty and conversion.