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Written by Norman White
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Thursday, 07 June 2018 |
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It was profound sadness that the club learned of the death of Ron Sharp at the age of 98 after a short illness. He had been associated with the club since 1950 when he moved to the town as a general practitioner, eventfully working from premises on Victoria Road.
He served as club doctor for a lengthy period until retiring from work. For over a quarter of a century after, he supported the club enthusiastically, rarely missing a home game which he would watch from his seat at the back of the stand. His services to the club were recognised in 1994 when he was elected an Honorary Vice President at that year's AGM.
Ron's roots lay in North Fife and it was in his years at Bell-Baxter High School that his involvement with rugby began and later continued at St Andrews University. He graduated MB ChB in 1942 and then spent four years in the army, mainly as an anaesthetist uring service in France during the D Day landings and later in the Far East.
After demobilisation he entered general practice, working initially in Irvine and Gretna before arriving in Kirkcaldy in 1950. Although he never played for Kirkcaldy he had a long association with the club which constantly called upon his medical expertise, much more so in in later years as the game became more physical and injuries more frequent.
The club extends its sympathy to his sons Russell, Sandy and Alan, grand children and great grandchildren. His funeral will be at Kirkcaldy Crematorium on Thursday 14 June at 2.15pm.
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Written by John Methven
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Saturday, 05 May 2018 |
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KIRKCALDY 29 WEST OF SCOTLAND 19 Craig Letham's sweetly struck penalty in the penultimate play not only confirmed Kirkcaldy's 100% unbeaten home record in this season's BT National League 2 championship winning campaign but also consigned visitors West of Scotland to relegation. West just needed to take a single point from this final game of the season, gained either by scoring four tries or coming within seven points of the winning side. When the referee whistled them up for a penalty 40 metres out with over three minutes of stoppage time gone their seven point deficit and salvation was about to be whipped away from them. The Kirkcaldy co-captain Greg Wallace had a special cause for satisfaction prior to kick-off as he became the first Kirkcaldy player to take part in 250 league games in a career stretching back to 2002. A guard of honour from the Wee Blues, joined by the entire West squad, applauded the Kirkcaldy side as they took to the field. At the other end of the age span 17 year old Cameron Pilner made his first team debut on the left wing. Director of Rugby Mark Henderson admitted that things hadn't gone as planned at the beginning “We had a slow start, giving away a soft try early on but came back well. They were playing for survival and I was delighted with our attitude, concentrating on winning the game. At the end there was some controversy about what we should do with the penalty, go for goal or put it into touch and hoping to drive on for a try. We could have lost the ball and they could have gone the length of the field and could have drawn the game. The goal option was the best for us, no doubt about that. West had given their all and that penalty may have relegated them but our job was to make sure we won with maximum points” He was also full of praise for the two youngsters who made their league débuts “Cameron Pilmer started and quickly came into the game while Craig Hamilton came off the bench and both showed they have a real future in the squad” |
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Written by John Methven
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Saturday, 28 April 2018 |
KIRKCALDY SEVENS 2018
For the first time since 2012 Kirkcaldy won their own sevens tournament at Beveridge Park and the twelfth time in all since James Heggie presented his trophy in 1950. Even before the final there was a real whiff of excitement around after the ground with the Wolverines winning the plate competition. This side composed, of Kirkcaldy veterans and promising youngsters, accustomed to early exits, surprised the crowd with a sparkling display against National 3 Perthshire, winning 47-14.
The competition held on an unusually late date at the end of April because of a clash with postponed league games was contested by eight sides in the two pool format with the two Kirkcaldy sides in separate pools.
Apart from Finlay Smith who will be unavailable, Head coach Quintan Sanft chose a squad of players who are unlikely to play in the season's concluding league game when the champions play West of Scotland on 5 May. This group of players, most of whom had little first team experience had all the necessary sevens skills to win the tournament and in Smith they had the Player of the Tournament.
When the Blues kicked off against Perthshire underfoot conditions were close to perfect but a brisk east wind made it a chill day for the crowd. In the opening tie the Blues dominated possession against Perthshire and despite conceding nineteen points thoroughly deserved their 38-19 win. Meanwhile Wolverines had an exciting draw 17-17 with St Andrews University.
In the early stages of the tournament the team which impressed most was the guest side representing the charity TryUmph For Teenage Cancer (TFC). In their ranks were several players well versed in sevens arts and no one was surprised when they comfortably made their way to final demolishing Dunfermline in the semi-final.
The Blues proceeded through their three pool ties without too much trouble to the semi-finals where there they met St Andrews University who had shown they were well acquainted with the sevens game. Kirkcaldy had a straight forward win however scoring five tries in the process.
Before the final tie the plate tournament was completed with the Wolverines having their fifteen minutes in the sun and a 43-14 win against Perthshire. The star man for the Wolverines was winger Gavin Welsh whose pace was such that it appeared at times that all the Wolves had to do was to win the ball and ship it out to Welsh as quickly as they could
Prior to the final opinion was divided as to likely winners with TFC slight favourites, their players seemed to be much more experienced and not lacking in pace. However this advantage proved illusory and they had no answer to Kirkcaldy's unerring accuracy, ball retention and fitness in the build up to their six tries against their opponent's three in a 38-15 win. While Smith was the top man in the side he had able assistance from his team mates with forward Scott Barclay and backs Cameron Pilmuir and James Barclay also making notable contributions to the eventual Kirkcaldy triumph
After the final the cup and medals were presented by Kirkcaldy vice-presidents Colin George and Graeme Hannah. |
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Written by Ian Gray
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Friday, 27 April 2018 |
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Celebrate the championship season with the return of Denner for a Tenner - ahead of the final game against West of Scotland on Saturday 5th May. Two course meal (starter and main) before the match, children half price. 12 for a 12.30pm sit down. Contact Ian Gray on 01592 200244 or email
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
to book your place. |
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Written by John Methven
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Saturday, 21 April 2018 |
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KIRKCALDY 32 LASSWADE 15 In this rearranged fixture, originally scheduled for early March before it fell victim to the Beast from the East, the Blues coasted to a comfortable bonus point win confirming their status as National 2 winners. For much of the season the Midlothian side contended strongly for one of the promotion places only to fall away in the closing weeks. One of the two defeats sustained by the Blues in the course of the season was at the hands of Lasswade in October. In that game their match winners were in midfield and they showed their strength in that department again with powerful counterattacking which tested the Blues defence. Lasswade's centre Mark Wilson, the scorer of two of their three tries proved to be the best attacker afield and a hot handful for Kirkcaldy. Head coach Quintan Sanft admitted that his team had a poor start, losing an early try. “The warm up didn't go all that well and there was a lack of concentration at the start of the game when we lost the first try. We then settled down and did well against a side who had beaten us earlier in the season. The intensity probably dropped in the last quarter when I changed the side earlier than planned to bring on players who needed game time” |
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Written by Murray Oliver
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Saturday, 14 April 2018 |
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STIRLING COUNTY 3rd XV 43 KIRKCALDY 2nd XV 17
On a beautiful day for rugby at Bridgehaugh, the hosts started smartly creating an overlap out left giving winger Jardine an easy try, with Drummond adding the extras. Kirkcaldy responded quickly with a kick through by Jamie Moffatt followed up by James Barclay for a try at the posts, converted by Moffatt. Both teams competed hard but it was Kirkcaldy who infringed first to give Drummond a successful kick at goal for a 10-7 County lead. The Blues again hit back right away, a successful pick and drive movement producing a try for Sean Lang after hard work by the whole pack. As both sides continued to concede unnecessary penalties, County made the most of a quick tap from 5 metres out to give Dineen a score under the posts. Kirkcaldy’s tackling worsened as the game went on and by half time had conceded yet another score from Kesson leaving the score 31-12 at the break. The Kirkcaldy pack worked hard at the start of the second half taking the ball into the red zone only to see this possession turned over and Drummond running the length of the field for another County score.In spite of this reverse the Blues did not give up and were rewarded when Seb Evans took line-out ball to dash through to score. Stirling rounded off the game as weak Kirkcaldy defence failed to cope with a chip and chase, giving the home team another easy try. The Kirkcaldy team was:- J Barclay, E Povey, J Finnie, M Hadoke, R Gordon , W Robertson, J Moffatt, S McLean, K Pattie, K Nattrass, S Evans, S Laing, C Carey, M Graham, M Duckett
Replacements:- M Collins, R Girdler, D Ho, D Frew S Porter |
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| | Results 1 - 11 of 44 |
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1stXV League Table
BT National League Division 2 | Team | Pl | Pts | | Kirkcaldy | 20 | 88 | | Hamilton | 20 | 77
| | Dumfries | 20 | 74
| Lasswade
| 20 | 64 | | Biggar | 20 | 62 | Peebles
| 20 | 61 | GHK
| 20 | 41 | | Howe of Fife | 20
| 41
| | Whitecraigs | 20 | 28
| | Preston Lodge | 20 | 21 | | West of Scotland | 20 | 21
| | | | | View full league table on scottishrugby.org
Star Check
sponsored by
FIFE TROPHY CENTRE Match 19 v Hamilton 3 Finlay Smith 2 Greg Wallace 1 Josh Laird See Cumulative Stats for totals
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