Kirkcaldy shoot down the Eagles

Dec 5 2008 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

Kirkcaldy 50

Perthshire 14

IT has been 22 years since Shire have beaten Kirkcaldy in the league. But for 22 minutes it looked as though the 2008 Eagles might just manage to succeed.

However, it was not to be and Kirkcaldy powered their way to a decisive victory in the end.

Shire started full of enthusiasm and camped themselves on the Kirkcaldy line but the excellent defence prevented them from crossing.

Shire were desperate to continue their recent unbeaten run but things looked decidedly ominous when Kirkcaldy won a scrum against the head and they were allowed to run through virtually untouched for the opening score on their first real attack.

Further grief was added when scrum half Andy Elder was carried off and with no recognised replacement in the squad, Lewis Knox was moved in from stand-off, replaced by Ross Browne, and Matt Smith moved to centre, replaced by Tom Warnes.

This reshuffle knocked the stuffing out of Shire and Kirkcaldy's forwards stepped up a gear and went on to dominate the game.

Kirkcaldy's hooker, Wallace, steamrollered through several half-hearted Shire tackles and Kirkcaldy then found themselves 14-0 up.

Many still believed Shire had the capacity to hit back but their hopes were dashed when the highly influential Garry Coull had to leave the field in agony and the chance of a fight-back was gone.

Quentin Sanft, who orchestrated Kirkcaldy's play magnificently, grabbed try number three and they were 24 points ahead at half-time.

The kick-off had already been brought forward by 30 minutes due to faulty floodlights and light was fading when the referee failed to resume the second-half owing to a hamstring injury.

Both teams were forced back indoors while the referee had treatment and to his credit he returned after a half hour delay and the match restarted although the cold, frost and poor light were taking effect.

Kirkcaldy again scored when they created a huge gap in the centre but to Perthshire's credit they found an extra gear and Craig Assenti especially had several successful breaks where his sheer pace put him clear of his markers.

He created the first try for James Fleming by breaking clear and then timing his pass perfectly to allow Fleming to score under the posts.

A few minutes later, Assenti again shot clear after superb work by Moffat and Anderson and he outpaced everyone for a fine score, converted by Fleming.

Unfortunately, the forwards were unable to grasp control of the game and Kirkcaldy's fast, open play proved too much for Shire.

Their backing up was superb and whenever Shire pulled off a tackle, Kirkcaldy were able to feed the ball away to a support runner at pace and by the end of the game had run in another three tries.

Although they were comprehensively beaten, Shire did have two periods when they were in control and showed what runners like Assenti and Fleming can do with good ball.

The forwards struggled to contain the much bigger Kirkcaldy pack but again Moffat and Pattinson stood out and every player gave their all.

Weather permitting, tomorrow's game is at home against Cartha Queens Park, kick-off 2pm. The match is sponsored by Campbell Dallas and AGB Developments Ltd.

If the match is off, this will be posted on the website www.perthshirerfc.co.uk.

Stars awarded: 3 – Craig Assenti (sponsored by GT Motor Sales); 2 – Tom Warnes (awaiting sponsorship); 1 – Simon Moffat (sponsored by AGB Developments).