A win, a draw and a defeat for Dunfermline

Improved form at Kinross tournament

A mixture of results today for the boys in challenging weather conditions.

Howe of Fife 9 v 6 Dunfermline
Howe of Fife opened the scoring before the spectators had even realised the match had started! The scoring then went in a tit for tat manner with Ruaridh scoring 2 tries and Eddie 1 in the first half. There were some spectacular examples of tackling from our boys, Eddie made a great driving tackle on his opponent knocking him clear into touch and Callum managed to get in a tap tackle too. We really suffered due to some bad referring decisions - notably the starting line up only being 5m from the oppositions try line and the opposition team not being penalised for snatching the ball from our players hands during hand offs. Ollie was tackled to the ground just 1/2m from the try line and whilst handing off to our team, HofF pulled the ball from his hands and ran the full length of the pitch to score. Our coaches protestations fell upon deaf ears and our boys were getting annoyed. After half time they turned their frustrations into some more great displays of tackling. Ewan brought down a few players and Ruaridh and Eddie did some great sliding tackles in the mud. Eddie scored his second try of the match and Ruaridh went on to score another 2.

Kinross 8 v 9 Dunfermline
Kinross started the match with a try from the kickoff despite a good tackle by Harry, James then scored for Dunfermline from the restart and this set the scene for an exciting end to end match. Dunfermline squandered an early chance to break the stalemate when, following a turnover gained from Kinross by forcing their player into touch a loose forward pass in a melee near the Kincardine touch line handed the ball back to Kinross who then took it the length of the pitch to score. Ruaridh and Adam then traded tries with Kinross. Ewan was eager to get involved in the scoresheet with Kinross needing three players to stop a storming run which hinted at what was to come in later matches. With the match on a knife edge either team could have taken the win but another loose forward pass, this time from Kinross, Allowed Ruaridh to score against the turn and give Dunfermline the lead. Further tries from Ruaridh and Adam allowed Dunfermline to keep their noses ahead till the final whistle.

Perth 11 v 2 Dunfermline
This match was a disaster for Dunfermline as due to a complaint by a Perth parent the game was played as touch rather than contact. Our boys found the whole thing confusing and were constantly running into the other team and consequently being "touched" and the ball kept being turned over to the other team. In hindsight we would have been better to not have played at all as the change of rules didn't suit our boys style of play.

Kinross 7 v 7 Dunfermline
After a very confusing and frustrating game against Perth and amidst a torrential downpour it was heartening to see our boys come into this match with such determination. Right from the beginning we went on the attack with Ewan and Eddie setting up Ruaridh for the opening try. After being taken out on the corner in a previous match Ewan obviously had tries on the mind and went on to score 3 in the first half. At half time the score was 4 all. The second half opened with some great team work from our boys, Ollie was tackled just short of the try line and handed off to Eddie, who passed to Callum who had found a great space, who passed to James who made a run for it but passed to Ruaridh as he was tackled and Ruaridh went on to open up the scoring. Ruaridh went on to score another try for the team and Ewan scored the final try of the match by making it over the line with a Kinross player hanging off his leg.

The final match was abandoned through mutual agreement as the boys were tired and cold after playing 15min matches instead of 10min.

All in all a great performance from the boys with lots of exciting tackles and plays for their enthusiastic band of supporters.