Another unhappy trip to the Borders for Dundee

NATIONAL LEAGUES: Kirkcaldy unlucky to lose at home to league leaders Jed

Kelso made a dire start to the season in Tennent’s National 1. The Poynder Park outfit were unable to beg a win in September but since then they have lost only one in five starts.

That run continued on Saturday when Dundee High Rugby, knowing that a win would take them above their Border opponents and Kirkcaldy, never came close enough for a real challenge after Kelso took a 12-0 lead. Only with the score sitting at 12-5 did the visitors come within striking distance.

Kelso opened the scoring with a couple of tries from Michael Downer and Angus Roberts, with Craig Dods adding a conversion, Dundee pulled one back with a Fraser McKay strike but a hat-trick from Gregor Mein, with Dods landing a conversion and a penalty, took Kelso into a 27-10 lead. At that point the realisation struck that, unlike their heroic exploits from the week before when Dundee hauled back a large deficit, it was beyond them this time despite tries from Neil Turnbull and Ruaridh Hood.

Another couple of tries from Andy Tait took the home side well clear. Two late tries for Dundee, from Kieran D’Eath and Andy Grewer, saw them clinch the try bonus but at 42-27, it was a familiar tale for the Mayfield men that when they travel into borderland the ending is rarely a happy one.

Dundee still lag Kirkcaldy by one point in third-bottom slot in the National 1 table and with Kelso edging away, it is time for a real surge from Dundee.

It was always going to be one of Kirkcaldy’s toughest home games of the season when Tennent’s National 1 leaders Jed came to call but the home side made a real fist of challenging the title contenders and came away with a well-earned try bonus. In fact they were only a point short of taking two from the game for the second week in succession.

For the second week running as well, they were in contention until deep into the second half and it was only that extra bit of nous from the visitors that saw them take the points back to Riverside.

Jed opened with a penalty try which resulted in Rhys Bonner visiting the naughty step then added tries by Elliot Stewart and Gregor Young. But tries from the restored Bonner and Scott Anderson and then an Owen Bonner strike and Smith penalty took Kirkcaldy in 20-19 up at the break. Rory Marshall got the touch as Jed shunted a scrum over the line and when home full-back Smith converted his own try, the one point margin was restored. Young and Darren Gillespie had Jed tries and Gary Munro converted both. But although Bonner got his second, the Borderers held on to win 40-32.

Kirkcaldy stay above Dundee and Hamilton but have what could be a really tricky game at Musselburgh coming up, although after their efforts of the past two weeks, they deserve a break.

The really sad thing about Howe of Fife’s 86-7 defeat at Inverleith at the hands of Stewart’s Melville in Tennent’s National 2 is that had the home side kicked most of the conversions of their 14 tries, then the score could have been close to the century mark. Sam Rowlands converted his own try for Howe in the first half but with the score at the break 43-7, had it been boxing, the referee would have stopped the contest.