Team

Kieran Wilson, Michael Smith, Jay Hogg, Kieran Twaddle, John Lynburn, Cal Clarke, Thomas Pooley, Jonathan Scott, Aidan Reddick, Ben Dollery, Alex McKenzie, Euan Colston, Cameron Syme, Ethan Wood, Andrew Waterworth, Sean Cameron, Cameron Shaw, Harvey Watson, Harrison McCulloch (Harry)

Dunfermline S2’s returned to action today following a holiday and weather enforced layoff, with a first ever fixture against Glasgow Hawks, one of the big West coast rugby sides.

The weather conditions were not exactly conducive to running rugby with a strong wind, heavy rain and under foot conditions best described as soft (although squelchy would be more accurate). However Dunfermline bellied the conditions to play some excellent rugby throughout and ran out convincing winners.

The game started well for Dunfermline with the Hawks return of the kick off halted by a big tackle from captain Jon Scott forcing a lineout. From the throw in the ball was moved along the Dunfermline back division where a dummy scissor and pop saw outside centre Cammy Symes race through the Hawks defence employing a couple of brutal handoffs on the way to score under the posts. Cammy scored his second try a few minutes later picking off a slack pass in the Hawks midfield to run away and score. Jonathan Scott adding the extra point. Dunfermline were in complete control at this stage but handling errors, not unexpected in the poor conditions, prevented them from scoring again until the 12th minute. A short pass from a ruck in the Hawks half saw prop Jay Hogg break through the defensive line before offloading to the supporting Jon Scott. Jon was caught a few metres short of the line, but scrum half Aidan Reddick was in support to scoop up the ball and cross the line for his first try of the year. The next try followed quickly with a break from Thomas Pooley who was tackled a few metres short of the line but managed to pop the ball up for John Lynburn to score his first try for the first team. Ben Dollery added the extra point to take Dunfermline into a 14 – 0 lead. The final score of the half came following some dogged defence from Dunfermline on the half way line which eventually resulted in a turn over which was picked up by Cameron Symes who raced away to score in the corner. Ben added the extra point to finish the first half with Dunfermline leading 18 – 0.

The second half started with the wind and rain now in Dunfermline’s favour and they were quickly back into their stride with quick ball from a Cammy Symes break making its way alone the line for Andrew Waterworth to score. Ben added another extra point. Again some poor handling and inaccuracy resulted in a short delay before another score came. Eventually Ethan Wood managed to get on the end of a pass from Jon Scott to score under the posts with Ben adding the extra point. The next try came following some good disruptive work from flanker Cal Clarke who managed a quick turn over following a kick ahead. After a couple of forward drives Jon Scott eventually broke through the ruck to score. Another conversion from Ben saw the score move to 30 – 0. The next score came from prop forward Jay Hogg, who ran onto a pass in his own 22 and broke the initial defensive line. He was caught on the Hawks 22 but was not held in the tackle and ran the remaining few yards to score. Euan Colston then helped himself to a try following a crushing tackle in the shadow of the Hawks posts by Cammy Symes resulting in a spilled ball. Euan was on hand to scoop the ball up and score under the posts. Ethan Wood converted. Cammy then ran in his fourth try of the day following a steal against the head in the scrum from the Dunfermline 8. Despite some loose passing the ball got to Cammy who surged through the defence to touch down. The final score of the day came from Euan Colston who picked up a loose ball in his own 22 before beating the tiring Hawks defence to run in unopposed to score.

The final score was Dunfermline 43 – 0 Hawks.

All in all an excellent outing for the players considering the weather conditions and that they have not played a game for 5 weeks. A few things to work on but the signs are good with some of the newer players starting to have a bit more impact on the pitch and some of the more experienced players showing good form.

The final 20 minutes of the game was played as a development session with the subs getting a run out and some of the other players having a shot in different positions. Again Dunfermline proved to strong for Hawks and a few more good tries were scored. Special mention goes to Kieran Wilson who scored his first competitive try following a great break out from his own 22. He didn’t quite have the legs to get to the line on his first shot and was caught in the Hawks 22 but managed to get the ball to Cameron Shaw who himself was hauled down short of the line only to find Kieran back on his feet and in support to take the scoring pass.

Many thanks to the players, coaches and supporters from Hawks for an enjoyable game, despite the conditions, and we look forward to welcoming you to what is likely to be a similarly muddy McKane park later in the season.