Dumfries Saints continue good run of form with eight try blitz against Peebles

Dumfries Saints continued their run of scoring form and boosted their promotion prospects when they demolished Peebles with an eight-try blitz on Saturday.

The strong gale made conditions difficult but Saints linked well from the kick-off to produce relentless combined forwards/backs pressure to pin Peebles into their own half.

Pre-match worries were forgotten as Saints took control of the game and racked up four good first-half tries scored by Ben Radley, Ian Carlisle, Andrew Whiteford and Rory Cockburn with the all-important ‘bonus point’ try.

Jack Johnstone added two conversions and a penalty for Saints to take commanding 27-0 interval lead.

Saints resumed full flow after the break and, despite strong defence from Peebles, soon notched up two more tries.

The visitors were really given little chance to attack until the 65th minute when they turned over the ball in a ruck in their own 22 and unexpectedly broke clear for a converted try.

They then had a brief flurry of possession but Saints were never seriously threatened.

They stepped up a gear and pinned the opposition back for the rest of the game.

Having dominated territory and possession for more or less the entire 80 minutes, they added a seventh try in the 72nd minute.

Euan Lafferty rounded off with their eighth try just on the final whistle.

The second half try scorers were Euan Millar with a great treble and Euan Lafferty.

Jack Johnstone added a conversion as they cruised home with eight tries to take the game by 51 points to 7.

Manager Stan Johnstone, said: “Our promotion rivals Stewart’s Melville and Preston Lodge have both dropped points over the weekend so Saints are definitely back in the promotion mix.

“We have a re-arranged fixture against Hamilton Bulls