Adam Smith hat-trick pushes his tally to 17 (From Stroud News and Journal)

Adam Smith hat-trick pushes his tally to 17

Cainscross 1st 19 Old Cryptians 1st 5 ADAM Smith increased his personal tally to 17 tries for the season with another hat-trick as he benefited from a strong performance from Cainscross this weekend.

Playing with the slope in the first half, the forwards were dominant early on and this pressure gave Smith the time and space to slip through the Cryptians' defence to score wide out, conversion missed.

Smith then found acres of space with a long kick downfield and outstripped the defence to gather and score under the posts, Nick Tagg converting.

Old Cryptians came back strongly but couldn't breach the home defence and Smith added his third try of the afternoon with a delicate chip and chase over the Cryptians' back line, Tagg again adding the extras.

The second half started with Cryptians piling on the pressure as they tried to use the slope to their advantage.

Smith was forced to leave the field at half-time so the side was reshuffled but this didn't upset the home side defence with both Martin Elliott and Allen Pearse coming to the fore with some crunching tackles.

The half-back partnership of Tagg and Keith Elliott also played their part with some lovely clearance kicks relieving the pressure.

In the end though, Cryptians managed to breach the defence wide out for an unconverted try and the game finished 19-5 to Cainscross.

Man of the match for Cainscross, Martin Elliott.

l Next weekend the 1st XV is away to Newent in a league fixture while the United side awaits a pool fixture.

For more information please see the official club website at www.cainscrossrfc.co.uk