Haddington head coach Bryan Craig admitted he was embarrassed by his side’s performance as they were thumped 92-10 by Aberdeenshire at the weekend.

The Haddington head coach was critical of his players following a third heavy league loss of the season, following big defeats to Hamilton, Ardrossan and Howe of Fife.

He told Courier Sport: “We’re certainly not playing as we train because I see heart and work rate from the players on the training park, yet we rarely see it on the playing park.” Craig made a number of changes, recalling Phill Smith and Garry Cockburn, who resumed the captaincy duties, in the front-row, while Charlie Hamilton was recalled alongside brother Harry, having impressed for the 2nd XV the previous weekend. James Slight was handed his debut on the wing, while James Ferguson moved to centre in the absence of Calum Cockburn.

And the re-shuffled Reds started the match well, and even took the lead when stand-off Alex Ferguson kicked an early penalty, but that was as good as it got for the visitors, as they shipped five tries in the opening half to trail 33-3 at the interval.

Wiaan Griebenow was the undisputed star of the show, as his first-half brace helped the hosts recover from a shaky start to take complete control of the match.

Craig’s side were left chasing the game, and a second-half capitulation saw the hosts run riot, as Aberdeenshire’s South African centre Griebenow added a further three tries to his personal tally, as they ran in nine second-half tries to emphasise their superiority and seal an emphatic victory.

The Reds handed debuts to Mark Robertson and Nils Fredrick late on, but neither could get involved as an attacking threat as the Reds were pinned back by the hosts, with the Reds also falling foul of the referee.

Stand-off Ferguson was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle as the game entered its final quarter, before South African back-rower Armandt Pryor crossed for his first try for the club.

Ferguson had returned from his misdemeanour and added the extras, but it was no consolation for the visitors, who are without a win this season.

Craig added: “We started really well and took a deserved lead after 10 minutes, but they scored a try soon afterwards through a missed tackle in midfield and that was to be the story for the rest of the match.

“Most of their tries were either created or scored in the wide channels through missed tackles.

“We were actually getting player into defensive positions but our inability to put guys down allowed them to run through us far too easily “A first win would do wonders for the players and the club. We have a chance this week and will be treating this as our biggest game of the season.” That must-win match sees fellow strugglers Greenock Wanderers, second bottom and with only one win this season, travel to Neilson Park on Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

Haddington: K Adams, R McLuckie, J Ferguson, E Herkes, J Slight; A Ferguson, D Crichton; G Cockburn, C Stuart, P Smith, H Hamilton, C Hamilton, A Pryor, K Paterson, D McKenzie.