TORRENTIAL rain swept across West Lodge on Saturday during a dreary and frustrating afternoon.

Whitecraigs welcomed fellow pacesetters Hawick YM for what should have been an exciting rugby spectacle.

But unfortunately a whistle-happy referee and the weather put a dampener on proceedings.

It was the visitors that started the brighter and from the kick off were deep in Whitecraigs territory.

Good defence kept the borders team from crossing the whitewash but one indiscretion too many gave the referee his first opportunity to award a penalty.

The YM stand-off duly dispatched the kick and ‘Craigs were trailing before many of the crowd had even made it to the pitch.

But ‘Craigs sparked into action and spent most of the first half in opposition territory.

The teams were very well matched but as the rain teemed down there were errors aplenty which frustrated the fans.

It was good work by the ‘Craigs forwards that finally gave the home side their first chance to get on the score board but Moffat’s effort hit the upright to the crowds agony.

Into the second half and the rain kept coming resulting in the battle of the leagues top two descending into a scrappy affair.

But with 15 minutes to go Moffat slotted a penalty kick to bring the scores level to the relief of the home support. 

And with ten minutes left Whitecraigs could have snatched an invaluable victory when Little put up an inch perfect cross-field kick which Moffat only just failed to gather.

Head coach Jim Henderson was clearly frustrated at the final whistle but was pleased to still be top of the league after the 3-3 draw.

He said: “Both teams who are at the top of the table tried to play attractive, competitive rugby in atrocious conditions.

“The stop-start nature of the game and the constant shrill of the whistle spoiled that and both coaches agreed afterwards.

“At the end of the day to some extent a draw was a fair result.”

Team: Laidlaw, B. Blamire, McKinnon, H. Hunter, Pollock, N. Blamire, Smylie, K. Hunter, Henderson, Little, Stevenson, Moffat, Hutton, Mahindru, Fisher. Subs – McKelvie, F. Hunter, Campbell.