Dunfermline P4’s made the trip to Tillicoultry on Sunday morning to be welcomed by Hillfoots RFC for a set of matches against their large P4 section.

Hillfoots have a well organised mini section, run by enthusiastic coaches who appear to live and breathe PCS values (they were one of the first PCS accredited clubs). All the matches were played in a good spirit with spectators on both sides ready to applaud the good rugby on show from the kids.

We played 3 matches in total, starting off strongly with a succession of tries from strong runs in the first half of the first match. The Hillfoots team came back into the game with scores of their own – Dunfermline were standing off too far in defence thus allowing the opposing runners time to get up to speed – we need to work on closing down the space and make the tackles a bit easier for ourselves. But all our players were certainly keen, the likes of Iain showing good positive and direct running, and Austin displaying a more elusive running style. The second half was played in the same manner, and in the end we finished ahead on the try count.

Next match up was against a stronger side, one player in particular caused our defence some headaches until we realised that getting up quickly left little space for him and we started to get the tackles in, led primarily by Jamie, with Aidan getting some strong tackles in as well. A coaching point that we need to look at – Hillfoots were usually more successful in retaining the ball in the contact area, whereas we did not protect the ball well enough and present it for support players. The difference in possession caused by this was probably the telling factor in the match, Hillfoots coming out on top by the odd try or two. However, some excellent play in both attack and defence was on show; Aidan’s loop, with Austin providing the link, was followed by a great run, with excellent support play from Jamie resulting in the try; Andrew S showed good balance in his running, sidestepping his way to the line on more than one occasion, Charlie on his shoulder to take the scoring pass on the best of these runs; Andrew D showed good pace in his runs down the wing, and by now was also finding his way in his defensive duties, putting in some good tackles; Matthew got his first try with good support running, taking a pass from Aidan to score in the middle. Matthew’s brother was clearly thrilled as he came running onto the pitch – a few years yet before he’ll be playing!

The third match was another evenly matched game. The coaches had been stressing to the players of the need to move the ball through the hands, and in particular to try and find the player in space before the tackle. The best try of the day came from a move which put Jamie through in the centre, which he could have scored himself, but Jamie chose to reward Andrew S’s support run up the wing with a lovely pass for him to score. In the end the Hillfoots side ran out winners but the final result was less important than the good performance that the Dunfermline kids had put in.

Thanks to the Hillfoots players, coaches and supporters for an enjoyable morning's rugby. The matches were played in a good atmosphere.

We’re now seeing the boys start to think about a passing game, rather than a bish-bash-bosh up-the-middle approach. They still need to close down the space in defence, and more work is needed on tackling technique, but we saw everyone make tackles today and put the players down. We need to work on protecting the ball at the contact area, work on rucking etc, but this will come.

Team: Aidan Symes, Andrew Duff, Andrew Storie, Austin Watson, Charlie Burns, Iain Sheil, Jamie Urquhart, Matthew Hamilton