Dunfermline S2s win at Whitecraigs

Dunfermline cling on to win 15 try thriller.

What a difference a year makes. Last year we travelled through to Newton Mearns and secured a fairly straight-forward victory; this time round we came up against a well drilled team who played to their strengths – in this case several athletic boys close to the 6ft mark! However, this was a 15-man team effort (a novelty in itself to be playing full-strength opposition this season) from our opponents, who rucked well and were committed in their tackling.

Right from the start we are given fair notice of what to expect – a couple of rucks and a burst down the wing, tackled by Duncan and Gregor, but a good off-load and support play saw the first try go to the hosts.
An instant response saw good hands putting Gregor into space, and a gallop to level the scores.
Thereafter we saw Whitecraigs and Dunfermline trade two further tries each, Kian scoring one down the left flank and another through the centre.
A decent winger’s try from Logan K and a line break from Finlee put daylight between the sides at halftime, while strong tackling from Dunfermline players (Aidan having to come off after a bump to the head in one of the bigger tackles) stopped Whitecraigs from any further scores in the half.

Half-time: Whitecraigs 10 – 17 Dunfermline

Whitecraigs started the 2nd half strongly, with two tries scored in the left corner after a period of attacks. By this time the Dunfermline side were noticeably tiring, the lack of substitutes due to some players being on holiday was starting to take it’s toll. The Dunfermline scrum was under a lot of pressure, tired players were missing tackles, while Whitecraigs were looking just as strong as earlier in the match. Failing to hold on to the ball through a series of one handed carries and attempted off-loads kept the pressure on us (best to stick to the basics in a tight match rather than trying Sonny-Bill Williams-style handling – guess what we’ll do some work on before we face Glasgow Hawks in 3 weeks time?)
However Dunfermline responded with a try from Gregor then a strong run through the middle from Kian to score under the posts, either side of a Whitecraigs try, to keep Dunfermline just in front.
A long period of pressure saw Whitecraigs score what looked like the winning try, but Dunfermline were not finished, and showed how much they wanted the win with a try from Jack, converted by Andrew.

Full-time: Whitecraigs 27 – 29 Dunfermline

An excellent, hard fought win against tough opposition. Well done to the boys, and thanks to our hosts who played the game in a good spirit throughout.