Despite a sudden covering of snow in Dunfermline, the S2 team travelled West to the greener, if soggier and wetter, pitches at the Fort Matilda Playing fields of Greenock Wanderers for a first competitive fixture against the west coast side.

The Dunfermline players have benefited from some indoor fitness and conditioning training over the colder / wetter winter months, and it was a strong / fit side, missing only a few regulars in the pack, who took to the field. Straight from the kick off it was apparent that Dunfermline were the stronger side and only some handling errors in the soggy conditions prevented an early score. The first try when it came after 3 minutes was a result of some excellent handling in poor conditions. Quick ruck ball was passed along the line to Jonathan Scott who straightened before passing to the supporting Euan Colston. Euan then fed the ball to centre Cameron Symes who ran in to score unopposed. The extra point could not be added with kicking conditions difficult due to the loose ground and this was to be a problem all day.

The second try came a few minutes later following a lineout steal 10 metres from the Greenock line by Kieran Twaddle. The ball was passed out to stand off Ben Dollery who executed a neat switch with Euan Colston who cut through the defensive line like a knife through butter. With only one man to beat, Euan unselfishly passed to the supporting Alex McKenzie who touched down in the corner. A second stolen lineout ball by Kieran Twaddle produced a first try for captain Jonathan Scott. The ball was quickly smuggled from the lineout to the No.8 who crashed over the line. Jon managed to convert his own score for a 10 – 0 lead. Euan Colston then added two tries of his own in quick succession. The first following a chip and chase, the second following a mistake by the Greenock back line which saw Euan pick up the ball outside the 22m and coast round the defense to score. Ben Dollery added a conversion for the second try. An injury to scrum half Aidan Reddick saw a reshuffle in the back division with Cameron Shaw, coming off the bench to play at scrum half. The remainder of the half produced a further four tries, two nearly identical run ins for Alex McKenzie to score a first half hat trick, a simple score in the corner for Cameron Symes after Teig Fenney ripped the ball from a Greenock player following a tackle before beating the covering defenders and offloading round the final defender to Cameron, and a forwards try from Sean Ramsay who was bundled over by the pack from close range. The half finished with Dunfermline in total control with a score of 29 – 0 and 9 tries.

At half time, the Dunfermline team was rejigged with the entire substitutes bench entering the game. Andrew Waterworth came onto the wing in place of Alex McKenzie, with John Lymburn making way for Sean Cameron and Harvey Watson taking the place of Cameron Symes.

The changes to the team did little to disrupt the flow of the game with Dunfermline continuing to play some good rugby throughout. Almost straight from the kick off, Jonathan Scott collected his second try following a flowing move involving both backs and forwards, and an almost identical move was finished off a few minutes later by Lewis Buchan , with Jonathan converting. Jonathan completed his hatrick 5 minutes later with another similar score, unfrotunately marred somewhat by a dive over the line more akin to that of a dying swan. He did redeem himself by knocking over the extra point. The next 6 minutes of the game saw a step up in the intensity of the game with Dunfermline adding a further three tries in rapid succession, including a second for Lewis Buchan, one for Cameron Shaw following a strong tackle from Jay Hogg and a first try in Dunfermline colours for the impressive Teig Feeney following a strong break from Ethan Wood (now assuming the No.10 duties following an injury to Ben Dollery). Ethan managed to convert two of the three scores.

A rampaging run from John Lymburn who offloaded to the supporting Michael Smith nearly added a further try only for Michale to be held up over the line, however it took a further 8 minutes for the next score with Ethan Wood strolling through the defense and Lewis Buchan adding his first ever conversion to his brace of tries. The final score of the game and the best (according to John) was however still to come, second row John Lymburn, backing up a good performance managed to collect the ball just inside the Greenock half before disappearing off down the field leaving a trail of Greenock players in his wake to touch down under the post. For good measure he then drilled the ball between the posts for the extra point using a toe poke that hasn’t been seen on rugby pitches since the 70’s.

The game finished with a score of Dunfermline 59 – 0 Greenock with a total of 17 tries and 7 conversions.

All in all a good performance from the players especially considering that this was their first game since early December. Some of the less experienced players in the pack put in improved performances especially Kieran Twaddle and Michael Smith in the lineout and John Lymburn in the loose, to complement the more experienced players. Still a few things to work on though, but in the main a good outing.

Many thanks to the players, coaches and supporters from Greenock Wanderers for an enjoyable game which was played in good spirits throughout. We look forward to welcoming you to McKane Park later in the season.