Moray Rugby Club hit by injuries and nine-try Whitecraigs blitz in Arnold Clark National League Division 4
Whitecraigs were convincing 59 points to 7 winners against Moray in this Arnold Clark National League Division 4 fixture in Glasgow last Saturday.
The Elgin side travelled with a number of regular players missing but still looked a very strong team on paper. The game earlier in the season at Morriston was a close affair with Moray running out winners and Whitecraigs started strongly with a view to redressing this.
With some hard running by their forwards and some slick handling by their backs, they scored three tries in the first 20 minutes, two converted for a 19-0 lead.
In this period, the Elgin side suffered a blow when influential coach Cameron Hughes had to leave the field with a calf injury.
Moray tried hard to get back in the game but a combination of unenforced errors and strong defence thwarted their efforts.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, Whitecraigs added a further three converted tries for a half-time lead of 40-0. The visitors were also dealt a second blow in this period when experienced second-row Alex Matthews left the field with a head injury.
Moray started the second half brightly and pressed in the home half but could not capitalise. Around the 50-minute mark, the visitors suffered a third blow when full-back Rory Millar left the pitch after an illegal tackle.
A scrum near their own line was lost allowing the home side to stretch the lead to 47-0.
Moray returned to the offensive and scored a converted try through Finnley Cameron after a number of phases and some good inter-passing for 47-7.
In the final minutes of the game, Whitecraigs added a final two tries, one converted, for a final score of 59-7.
It had been a hard and disappointing day for the Moray side but Whitecraigs had thoroughly deserved their victory playing some good hard driving and handling rugby and being very strong in defence.
Moray now have seven games left in the league with one away and six at home, the first of those being against Hamilton this Saturday at Morriston. Kick-off is 2pm. They will be eager to put last Saturday behind them and put together a winning performance in front of their own fans.
