All but over for Dundee High with another defeat

The weather put paid to any hopes Strathmore had of travelling to Ardrossan and the other National 3 clash between Perthshire and Howe of Fife, although Kirkcaldy and particularly Dundee High Rugby would probably have had no regrets had their National 1 and 2 games gone the same way given the way their results fell.

For Dundee, it turned out to be the final throw of the dice in the bid to avoid relegation and the numbers sadly did not add up.

The visitors were never really in trouble as they eased to a 27-13 win with No 10 Jonny Hope scoring 17 of those points with a try, three conversions and two penalties.

Hooker Andrew Orr and prop Fraser Muir had the other two Stirling scores and despite a couple of Dundee strikes from Finlay Ormiston and a Fraser Mckay penalty, Dundee’s relegation fears were finally realised.

With four games to play, they are on 11 points and cannot overtake Kelso who are third bottom on 33 and with two sides getting the chop, Dundee will certainly be one of them.

The conditions were miserable at Beveridge Park when Kirkcaldy took on Newton Stewart, much in keeping with the feelings of the home fans as they watched their team’s promotion prospects take a serious dent.

Kirkcaldy had won by the narrowest of margins at Bladnoch where they sneaked a 7-6 win and at half-time it looked as though it could be as close.

Newton Stewart led 7-0 from a Mark Mccormick try converted by Jack Gaw and it was all to play for in the second 40 but it was the visitors who showed they were determined to reverse the earlier league result as well as banishing the memory of the awful 80-19 hammering Kirkcaldy dished out in the National League Cup in August last year.

Alex Brooks went in for Kirkcaldy’s sole counter but a try by Jason Mckie converted by Gaw who added a couple of penalties ensured that the points were headed back to the south-west.

Kirkcaldy stay in fifth spot but having lost to Dumfries and now Newton Stewart in successive game, there may be only six points separating them from leaders Stewarts Melville but they have now played one game more than the four sides above them and that could be just enough to tilt any advantage away from Beveridge Park.