Today was the last fixture of 2024 for Whitecraigs 1xv. Garnock , a league above Whitecraigs in Arnold Clark National League 3, were the Cup opponents and a challenging prospect.

There were also player debuts today. Finlay Orr who has been a regular 2xv player got his 1xv debut today coming off the bench on the wing. And Owen Morrison this week stepped up into the senior section from the U18’s got his senior debut coming off the bench into centre. Congratulations to you both.

Garnock had an early raid into the Whitecraigs half from kick off. Playing direct with powerful, bartering ball carries by their forwards. Whitecraigs defence was steely and resisted with solid dominant tackles which force errors in the attacks. Whitecraigs although defending had a fair balance of the possession with turnovers and scrums awarded. It looked like Whitecraigs were going to deny Garnock any score but eventually on 13 mins broke the Whitecraigs defence, try and missed conversion 0-5.

Whitecraigs got their hands on the ball soon after the restart and started to play their game. The play settled into the Garnock half, Whitecraigs looking menacing with their fast ball through the back line and solid carries by the forwards. A converted try for Whitecraigs on 20 mins put them ahead 5-7. The game was a battle from this point on. Both teams scoring a try each over the four minutes, Whitecraigs leading 14-12 after 24 minutes.

After retaking the lead in the 24th minute Whitecraigs remained so through to the final whistle pressed all the way by Garnock with their physical play and points accumulated.

Whitecraigs though were playing with confidence and were really entertaining at moments coupled with some really hard grind in attack and defence. Quick hands, line breaks, dazzling runs and some effective ball carries kept the visitors under pressure and at arms length.

An ingenious Whitecraigs try on 42 mins entertained the supporters with foot to foot link up play full length of the pitch to score a try that started with a grubber kick towards half way from the Whitecraigs 22 metre.

With 22 mins remaining Garnock were threatening, the score very close 28-26. Whitecraigs found space to break the Garnock defence line in open play with pacy passing targeting the spaces with effective running. Whitecraigs went on to score 3 more tries to secure the 45-26 victory in what was a pre - Christmas thriller to end 2024.

Next Fixture:

1xv
Arnold Clark National League 4
AWAY V Hamilton
Kickoff 2pm

2xv
Arnold Clark West Region Reserve League Division 2
HOME V Cartha
Kickoff 2pm

…… bring on 2025!