Selkirk 87

Falkirk 3

Tom Ramage at Philiphaugh

SELKIRK soared to the top of National Division One after enjoying a try-fest against struggling Falkirk at Philiphaugh.

The visitors, who are bottom of the table, battled hard but couldn't live with the power and pace of the home team for much of the 80 minutes.

Callum McEwan scored the first of five first half tries beneath the posts after only two minutes.

Flying winger Clinton Wagman twice rounded his opposite number for his first-half brace.

There was a brief respite as Thomas Fleming dropped a goal midway through the half for Falkirk.

But both Scott Hendrie and Nathan Hall also touched down during a dominant 40 minutes for the hosts.

Rory Banks converted four of the five tries for the Souters to turn around 33-3 ahead.

With the bonus point and the victory already in the bag, the Philiphaugh players would have been forgiven for easing off in the second half.

But, if anything, Selkirk expanded even more with some terrific running play.

Attacks were orchestrated from all over the park - and the Philiphaugh crowd were treated to a further eight tries during the second 40 minutes.

Hamilton and Wagman both scored within the opening five minutes of the second period.

And Fraser Anderson sprinted over to keep the scorers busy.

Within a few minutes McEwan had scored his second after more good handling.

Banks added try number eight before Anderson went over again to open the gap to 70 points.

Donald Nichol came off the bench to get in on the act, and Matthew Robertson completed the scoring with a further try in the closing stages.

Banks notched up a further four conversions during the second half.

Head coach Graham Marshall said: "The score may suggest that we had an easy game but Falkirk went down fighting, and they refused to give in."

Man of match was awarded to Selkirk's Nick Hall.

Selkirk. S Hamilton, C Wagman, F Anderson, S Hendrie, R Nixon, R Banks, C McEwan, L Pettie, N Hall, B Riddell, A Renwick, P Forrest, M Gordon, S Nixon & E MacDougall. Subs: J Bett, S Dama, D Nichol, M Robertson & S Clarke.