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”

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

KIRKCALDY 33 HAMILTON 30

With two games still to play the Blues were crowned BT National League 2 champions after a pulsating game at Beveridge Park against the likely runners-up in this division. After taking a 5th minute lead with a Finlay Smith penalty goal the home team were never behind but came dangerously close to losing with an all-action finale from the Lanarkshire side which produced three tries in the space of ten minute.

What really separated the sides was the accuracy of Finlay Smith's goal kicking. The full back converted all three of his side's tries as well as slotting four penalties. Altogether Hamilton had a fairly miserable day at goal with both Andy Wilson and his replacement Owen McLeish had vital misses.

Hamilton, capable of attacking from their own goal line, outscored their hosts by five tries to three, and with their margin of defeat under seven points earned two league points.

The last ten minutes of the game worried Head coach Quintan Sanft who admitted he could see the game slipping away. “We controlled the game for over an hour even with the changes we had to make before and during the game. We were 26-8 ahead in the 62nd minute and the boys probably thought that the game had been won. Our game plan had worked well, keeping the ball well away from their backs with our forwards dominant. When they began to get a better share of the ball we wobbled a bit. However we held on and had a deserved win”