|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Saturday, 10 November 2018 |
MUSSELBURGH 54 KIRKCALDY 22
The Blues were caught well short in the early kick-off game at Stoneyhill on Saturday. Behind 35-5 at half time against a team which oozed pace in every department, Kirkcaldy never totally caved in, and with another three second half tries managed to take a four try bonus point from the game.
Director of Rugby Mark Henderson was far from happy with the overall performance. “From the kick off there was a flatness about this showing. Too often we seemed to stand back and let them do the business. At the first try we were little more than spectators and gave them the easiest of seven points. Throughout the first half they were given too much possession which inevitably led to tries. Things improved after half time with much better focus. I was really pleased we scored four tries to get a bonus point which not many teams will get at Stoneyhill.
Musselburgh were especially strong behind the scrum and made the best use of some ill directed Kirkcaldy kicking. Lost possession became a growing problem for the visitors as the first half progressed and by the break the East Lothian side had touched down five, with the accurate boot of stand-off Danny Owenson slotting all the conversions the game was more or less decided by half time.
To their credit Kirkcaldy never threw in the towel and earned their single point with a courageous second half showing in which they matched Musselburgh's additional three tries. While the Blues back division was more or less at full strength, the pack lacked two of the front row trio with only Marcus Salt starting and even he had to retire injured. Soon after, the powerful Rhys Bonner had a recurrence of a past knee injury. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Saturday, 03 November 2018 |
KIRKCALDY 32 JED-FOREST 40
An explosive start to last Saturday's encounter saw Jed-Forest lead before two minutes had gone through a penalty try and Kirkcaldy's Rhys Bonner being binned for a dangerously high tackle. Fortunes fluctuated throughout this spectacular game and it was not until the final whistle that the outcome was settled.
With less than five minutes left and Jed leading 33-32 the Blues forced their way towards the visitors 22 when the referee indicated a penalty in Kirkcaldy's favour and a possible match winning kick at goal. The attack rumbled on to the 5 metre line playing advantage, only for the referee to call “advantage over” indicating that Kirkcaldy had used up their advantage. This was a judgement few agreed with. From the resulting scrummage Ewan Scott went all the way to the home line for a try, the conversion, denying the Blues a losing bonus point.
Kirkcaldy forwards coach Kenny Fraser had nothing but praise for his side, “We matched the league leaders in most phases of the game and gave them one of their toughest games of the season. The very early penalty try and the yellow card and their second try were harsh setbacks. However we showed what we can do by leading 20-19 at half time. There was that advantage situation at the end where we were denied the chance of going for the winning score and that was disappointing. Overall all our players deserve the highest marks for an eighty minute performance”
Although the Blues replied strongly to their early setback, the second score came Jed-Forest's way. The home pack through a series of well controlled mauls took play to within touching distance of the Jed line only to lose control of the ball less than five metres from the whitewash. Swift hands saw the ball quickly moved away from that contact and Jed full back Lewis Young was away on his own with no Kirkcaldy tackler near him. With only eight minutes gone, Kirkcaldy were 12-0 down. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Sunday, 28 October 2018 |
DUNDEE HSFP 36 KIRKCALDY 29
In a weekend of stunning rugby reverses Kirkcaldy made their own contribution when they surrendered a thirty-fifth minute 22-0 lead to go under thanks to a last minute converted Dundee try.
An impressive Kirkcaldy start brought immediate success. Mauling their way down the left touchline it was lock Struan Robertson who worked his way over for the try. Almost before the Dundonians could regather, a solo Greg Wallace effort from 40 metres out doubled the Blues' score. Finlay Smith's conversion took the score to 12-0 in Kirkcaldy's favour and the full back then added a penalty.
At the half hour mark only the direst Kirkcaldy pessimist would have expected the Blues to be on the losing side, especially after a third counter from Rhys Bonner again converted by Smith.
In the final ten minutes of this first half Dundee appeared to have an energy injection as they held on to passes and for the first time pressurised the Kirkcaldy line with much improved support play. This was to lay the foundations for a Dundee transformation and eventual victory
There was obvious disappointment in the Kirkcaldy camp at this loss but forwards coach Kenny Fraser strongly pointed out “We may have lost this game in disappointing circumstances but you have to remember that we took two points from this game and it is a long time since we took anything from Mayfield. Also losing Greg Wallace to injury just before half time was a bit of a blow. Greg had been outstanding up to that point and his influence and general leadership was sadly missed”
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Saturday, 20 October 2018 |
KIRKCALDY 52 CARTHA QUEEN’S PARK 24
When the Blues took the lead through a Scott Anderson try after forty four seconds, it looked as if Quintan Sanft's men were on their way to victory against their Glasgow opponents at Beveridge Park last Saturday. When that was followed by another counter from Dayle Turner, converted by Finlay Smith seven minutes later, Cartha looked down and almost out.
Whether it was complacency or not, the Blues quickly lost their urgency, the initiative soon passing to the visitors. Before Kirkcaldy knew where they were, they were 19-12 down with three quick fire tries for the opposition from Graham Williamson, Jake Graham and Callum Dickson and stand-off Gregory Davidson adding a couple of conversions.
The Blues' earlier panache had all but gone with half an hour played and another damaging loss seemed a real possibility. They were clearly second best at the break downs and penalty count against them mounted. However a dramatic change of fortune close to half time turned the game around again. Full back Finlay Smith, adding to his goal kicking prowess, made the extra man in the three quarter line to round off a forward surge in the 38th minute. After touching down he then kicked the conversion to tie the scores once more.
With the referee thinking of blowing for half time Kirkcaldy struck again and it was to regain the lead which they did not surrender. Flanker Dayle Turner made the most the most of a scoring chance and with Smith adding the conversion the Blues finished the half with an unlikely 26-19 lead. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Saturday, 06 October 2018 |
|
KIRKCALDY 22 GALA 14
The Blues battled back from last week’s Braidholm debacle with a morale rousing win against Gala at Beveridge Park on Saturday. Although they had an alarming negative penalty count, and reduced to thirteen players early in the second the half Quintan Sanft's men battled back from a 14-8 deficit to dominate the final quarter and take the points.
Kirkcaldy had a much stronger line-up this week, although still short of optimum strength they started with an intensity which must have surprised their opponents. This early aggression failed to get the scoreboard into action and Gala slowly found their feet. A series of rolling mauls took the Borderers up to the line but they conceded a penalty and the pressure was relieved.
Aggression coursed through Kirkcaldy veins, thoroughly unsettling Gala. One Michael Harper run scattered the Gala defence to all corners and the huge prop just ran out of steam after a 50 metre run. The first Kirkcaldy score was not long delayed A penalty to touch 10 metres from the Gala line set up a series of driving mauls from which schoolboy lock Struan Robertson emerged and showing considerable strength worked his way over the line for an unconverted try
The Blues then had a major let off. Gala centre Daniel Nicholson weaved his way through the Kirkcaldy defence apparently to touch down at the posts. However he had failed to ground the ball properly and referee Ross Mabon ordered a 5 metre scrum for Kirkcaldy |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by John Methven
|
|
Saturday, 29 September 2018 |
|
GHA 87 KIRKCALDY 3 When Kirkcaldy first saw the 2018-19 National 1 fixture list in June they realised then that they would be in for a tough shift on the last Saturday of September when they had to travel to Braidholm to meet the highly ambitious and successful Glasgow club. Little did they know then that they would line up with a decimated side shorn of their entire back row, both props and centre Josh Laird as well as three other long term absentees. Squad depth at Beveridge Park has been a problem at for some time and this thirteen try rout has only once been exceeded in league rugby. There were signs of what was to follow in the second minute as home winger Ben Addison romped in unchallenged for his side's first try. In exchanges in the first ten minutes Kirkcaldy appeared to be struggling with the pace of the game although they managed to keep GHA in check. Once the Braidholm side worked out the weaker links in the Kirkcaldy side they were and truly exploited and try after try followed. The only Kirkcaldy crumb of comfort came from the boot of Finlay Smith with a 15th minute penalty making the score 12-3. They had the four try bonus point in the bag in the in the 20th minute as Charlie Lonergan, Max MacFarlane along with second Addison counter and three George Baird conversions made the score 26-3 with three quarters of the game to follow. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next > End >>
|
| Results 1 - 11 of 59 |
