THE old sporting adage of a game of two halves was played out on Saturday as Whitecraigs ground out a deserved victory.

Stout defending from ‘Craigs saw them tackling for their lives for most of the first period as Trinity Accies pounded their line.

But after the break renewed vigour from the West Lodge men saw them sweep aside their stuffy Edinburgh opponents.

Home side Trinity bossed the opening exchanges but the first half was marred by mistakes from both sides.

Scoring was limited to just one penalty kick putting Trinity 3-0 up at the break.

But in the second half Whitecraigs looked much sharper and almost immediately great interplay between backs and forwards saw the home defence unlocked and Pollock crashed over the line.

This sparked ‘Craigs into action with flowing rugby and a flurry of tries following.

Captain Ryan Moffat led from the front when a great interception and chip down the line could have led to a try, but his opposite man cynically barged him down.

The Trinity player was sin-binned for his indiscretion and from the resulting lineout a controlled driving maul saw Laidlaw emerge from the bottom of a pile of bodies to claim the try.

It was Moffat himself that got the next score when he charged down a kick and rushed over to extend the lead to 17-6.

Going into the final stages of the game ‘Craigs ran a mock and claimed the crucial bonus point with tries from Hamish Hunter, Moffat and Fisher to conclude the scoring at 36-6.

As Whitecraigs keep up the pressure at the top of the league they now look forward to hosting struggling Duns at home next week.