Glenrothes rise to second after win against Dunfermline

Glenrothes 1XV travelled to McKane Park to face Dunfermline on a pitch that started off soft and ended up resembling a ploughing field thanks to the cold and wet weather at the weekend.

But Glens rose to the occasion – rising to second in the league thanks to their _  win.

The Glens started off on the front foot as Dunfermline knocked on from the kick-off, but their initial attack was halted by a knock on of their own in front of the posts.

It was Glenrothes who opened the scoring half way through the first period when Gavin Emerson, relishing a rare opportunity to play in the number 8 jersey, picked up at the back of a scrum on halfway. He fed Michael Delorey who skipped up to the 22m line before passing left to Kain Duguid.

The ball moved quickly from the fly half to Cammy Goodall and then to Chris Docherty who sprinted for the corner and a well taken try. Duguid’s conversion attempt was short as he kicked the tee before contacting the ball.

Dunfermline took a short kick at the restart and the visitors were sleeping, allowing them to recover the ball without a challenge.

This possession quickly led to a penalty and an unsuccessful attempt on goal.

The conditions continued to play a part in the game with the ball rarely moving beyond the respective number 10s and handling errors abounding. Dunfermline’s Adam Fraser pulled back three points with a penalty as Glenrothes were adjudged to have collapsed a maul on their own 22m line.

Early in the second spell, referee Chris Williams made the first of a number of decisions which confused the Glens when he brought play back to the touchline after Delorey had taken a quick throw from a Dunfy clearance. Then he twice awarded scrums when a home team player played the ball in front of a team mate who had knocked on with everyone in the arena expecting a penalty.

Meanwhile a Dunfermline maul was halted in front of the posts and the official indicated a penalty try, stating afterwards that there had been a number of infringements during the course of the maul. Fraser converted to narrow the margin to two points.

The red forwards took a page from their opponents play book and kept the ball close to the breakdown.

A succession of such surges took them to within 5m of the goal line where Dunfermline conceded a penalty. The Glens opted for a scrum and drove their opponents over their line with Emerson picking up and diving over for a well deserved try and the final score of the afternoon.