WHITECRAIGS U16 64 - 30 BIGGAR U16
STAR PLAYER: MATTHEW HEATON

The U16 team looked to keep up their perfect start to the season, but had some tough opposition to deal with with the visit of another undefeated team in Biggar. Last season we came out on top in a tough encounter and expected more of the same this time.

Biggar started brightly and following some good defence kicked the 3 points when they were on offer. We hit back with a line break from Liam and through the hands to Daniel C who finished well in the corner. Another 3 points from Biggar left us trailing after a bright first 10 minutes. Our Club Development Officer has asked us to play with the "coast to coast" approach and our second try was exactly that. The ball was kicked through and Gregor picked it up behind his own line, there was a collective "touch it down" from the crowd, but he elected to run, under his own posts, he made his way past 4 defenders and up to the half way line where he offloaded neatly to Liam who ran it in for a full length cracker. Next up the forwards came into things, a massive push from the front row union of Oli, Alex S and Matthew, who collectively were players of the match, turned the ball over and Harry picked and ran it in from the 22. The final score of the half was another cracker, turnover ball again and this time we went to the right, Jamie picked the ball up on the half way line and slalomed his way between tacklers to score in the corner. We had been treated to some enterprising rugby in the first half and four well worked tries.

We had been a little sluggish as we closed out the first half and started the second half in the same way. Biggar had ran in a couple of good scores themselves and were starting to stage a comeback. Harry nipped it in the bud. A smart break down the far touch line and Harry went over in the corner. The next try, was a really pleasing one for the coaches, as it showed the hard work in training paying off. A smart break from Munro with an offload and then Matthew H with another great offload, Harry kicked the ball over the top from the half way line and then outpaced the Biggar backs to touch down under the posts. A great team score. Next up was Oli, a big tackle from Munro and a good counter ruck from Oli, who picked up and rumbled in from about 30m out, all power!

The game was opening up and both teams were making some good breaks. Harry, Scott and Munro all made some good offloads to get Max away to score and convert his own try. Daniel C and Max finished off with our ninth and tenth tries, both converted by Fin.

So another victory, 5 from 5 and some great play. The effort today was immense and there are a few more that deserve a call out. Mikail, Daniel M, Jacob, Ian and Lee were part of a strong forward unit, tidy line outs, good driving and some key tackles, doing the hard work to put others in space. In the backs Matthew G was solid in midfield and distributed the ball well putting the final touches to a number of scores. It was good to see Scott back on the pitch making some trademark mazy runs and Joe was again impressive at 9, including a number of stand out tackles.

Back to cup duty next week, but for now, the team should feel very happy with their effort and todays result. A big well done from the coaches.

The Mighty !