An attritional opening half saw injuries to both sides as the ferocious hits rained in - Hawks’ Paddy Kelly leaving the pitch after only a few minutes and Marr’s Andrew Actorn making way later in the half.

A flurry of five first half tries had both sets of fans in good voice as the Scotstoun pitch lent itself to a fast-paced game.

George Horne opened the scoring for Hawks with a penalty before the debutants muscled over the line through William Farquar to get the try-scoring up and running. The Glaswegians hit back quickly with a well worked try for Stephen Leckey followed up by flyer Sam Yawayawa a few minutes later.

The teams then traded blows as Hawks extended their lead through a scrum that had the referee running beneath the posts for a penalty try, before Marr’s Ross Miller bludgeoned over from close range.

Half time: 24-17
Hawks were looking to turn the screw early in the second period and came away with a score just two minutes after the interval, taking the score to a more comfortable 31-17.

Marr stayed in the fight however, slotting a couple of penalties and breaking from deep to put Sean Bickerstaff in to cut the lead to just six.

The fairy-tale ending was just out of reach for the men from Troon as Hawks pinned them back in their 22 before winning a second penalty try from a destructive scrum to seal the game.

Full time: 41-28
Elsewhere, Melrose and Watsonians played out an 11 try feast at The Greenyards with the Borderers coming out comfortable winners 54-22.

Defending champions Ayr were pushed to the limit by Boroughmuir, landing a last-minute drop goal to sneak home 28-30.

Another nail-biter at Goldenacre saw Stirling County overcome a half-time deficit to defeat Heriot’s by just three points, while newly rebranded Currie Chieftains travelled to beat Hawick.

In the BT Women’s Premier League some interesting results were thrown up as RHC Cougars beat champions Murrayfield Wanderers and Stewartry won on the road against Ayr.

Hillhead Jordanhill put on a dominant display to break the 100 barrier against Cartha Queens Park and Stirling County came out on top of visitors Watsonians.

BT Premiership Results:
Glasgow Hawks 41 – 28 Marr

Melrose 54 - 22 Watsonians

Hawick 28 - 39 Currie Chieftains

Heriot’s 25 - 28 Stirling County

Boroughmuir 28 - 30 Ayr