TOO HOT TO HANDLE

WHITECRAIGS were too hot to handle as they cruised to an easy victory on Saturday.
Visitors Madras travelled from St Andrews in confident mood after a good start to the season.

But a blistering performance by the West Lodge side saw ‘Craigs leapfrog their opponents and climb to third in the league.

The tone was set early on with ‘Craigs dominating possession and Moffat settled the nerves when he calmly slotted a penalty in the opening minutes.
And it was Smylie after 15 minutes who started the try spree when he went over for the first of his three scores.

Then it was Gary Johnston’s turn when he expertly sidestepped his opposite man and raced in under the posts to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Leading by 17 points after only 20 minutes meant the home side got slightly over-confident and an ambitious pass by Ben Blamire was intercepted to let Madras cut the deficit.

But this seemed to galvanise ‘Craigs and they set about putting on a spectacle for the crowd.

As half time approached Smylie picked up his second try and a score from blood replacement Nick Blamire put ‘Craigs 29-7 up at the interval.
And they were out of sight just after the break when Smylie completed his hat-trick.
Captain Ryan Moffat then added a try of his own before new boy Stuart Pollock smashed his way over the whitewash as well.

But the pick of the touchdowns was saved until last when playmaker Ally Little danced his way through the opposition to score a magnificent solo effort.

After the fantastic eight try display and convincing 55-7 victory head coach Jim Henderson was delighted by the result.

He said: “I said weeks ago that we would learn how to play in this division – and we have. “The best compliment was coming off the park when the Madras coach said that we were just too strong for them. “We really are starting to click now. “We always need more players though and I’m looking for local boys to come down and start playing here.”

Team: McCormack, B. Blamire, Laidlaw, H. Hunter, McKelvie, Pollock, Smylie, K. Hunter, Henderson, Little, Johnston, Moffat, Hutton, Stevenson, Fisher. Subs – Campbell, N. Blamire, Farrell.