An under strength Whitecraigs side had its title hopes dented on Saturday after slumping to a surprise defeat in Wigtownshire.
Without key players Ryan Moffat, Phil Nicol and Murray Stuart the West Lodge men made the long journey to play bottom of the table Newton Stewart, but were left shell-shocked after a gutsy performance from the home team.

From the start Newton kicked the ball well to pin Craigs back and strong, rumbling forward play saw them pushing hard to open the scoring. It took just 10 minutes before the usually dependable Craigs defence was broken when quick handling got the ball to the winger and he raced over to touch down. Despite plenty of possession Whitecraigs could not find any rhythm and the physical hosts made sure that there was no way through, before Newton extended their lead to 8-0 with a successful penalty.

After the break tempers flared and the card-happy referee dished out three yellow cards making the crowd become increasingly frustrated at his lack of consistency. The tense atmosphere around the ground seemed to be getting to the players and Whitecraigs continued to make mistakes. After 50 minutes Craigs produced their first flowing backs move of the day and a strong run from Fisher pushed Newton deep into their own half but again they failed to find the killer cutting edge to break through.
In the closing stages of the game table-toppers Whitecraigs were camped in opposition territory as they battled to salvage the match and with just minutes left scrum half Henderson took the ball down the blind side from a scrum before chipping it through for Johnston to race onto it and score.

With the score reduced to 8-5 Craigs needed another score to avoid defeat but time ran out and the home crowd erupted with joy as Newton recorded their first win of the season. Whitecraigs stay top despite the defeat and will look to get their season back on track when they travel to Kilmarnock on week on Saturday.

Team: Laidlaw, B. Blamire, Campbell, Pollock, Howarth, N. Blamire, Walker, K. Hunter, Henderson, Stevenson, McCleod, Percival, Mahindru, Johnston, Fisher.
Subs - Nesbitt, F. Hunter, Corbett.