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ROSYTH SHARKS............................40 PERTHSHIRE 2XV............................12 Several called off games in recent weeks had Perthshire itching for a return to competitive action.

And coach Dave Lewis finally had the opportunity to assemble the strongest possible squad to play Rosyth Sharks last Saturday.

The squad, including veteran club legend Andy Elder, travelled to Dunfermline in good spirits knowing a win would take them off the bottom of the Caledonia Midlands League Division 3.

Shire started very well with strong tackling and dominance in the breakdown, then in the sixth minute solid phase play allowed Isaac Hodge to burst over the line to score a close-range try.

The Perth men took their foot off the gas and let the Sharks in for soft tries in the eighth, 15th and 20th minutes before Callum Coutts cut through the home defence to score on the half hour mark.

Injuries to key players did not help Shire’s cause as, firstly, captain Chris Wallace was replaced, quickly followed by Ben Kindness-Smith, Cammie Rennie, Bruce Campbell and Ross Alexander. This exhausted the already limited bench.

Then a very soft yellow card to the Shire centre rounded off a less than ideal half of rugby with the score sitting at 26-12.

Without refereeing officials games cannot go ahead and every week the clubs ensure they thank them for their time and effort.

But the officiating in this game left a lot to be desired. The referee missed several dangerous high tackles to players on both sides.

The breakdowns also were not policed correctly and then the referee refused to speak to the Shire captain after a dangerous collision involving Rennie.

Shire, however, were like a new side at the start of the second half and they dominated physically.

Time and time again the Perth forward pack marched up the park and Rosyth could do nothing to stop them.

But each time they were thwarted by questionable officiating or a silly mistake - and then fatigue started to set in. Rosyth took advantage to score two quick tries in the 50th and 53rd minute. Again, Shire rallied.

In the last 20 minutes the pressure was relentless and this showed with more yellow cards being brandished to the Sharks players.

At one point Rosyth were down to 13 men but bad decision making and poor execution meant that Shire were unable to take advantage.

The second XV have one win from five games this season and are rooted to the bottom of the table.

The message from the club was that players need to attend training and work on personal fitness to stop the rot and get the team back into winning ways. Ill-discipline has also been an issue this season so a change in mentality is necessary.

Special thanks went to veteran Elder for donning the black and white again and producing a brilliant performance.