Glenrothes 28-26 Potbellies

The Potbellies had been stung by their November defeat at Carleton and had brought a much stronger squad south for this game, so Glenrothes found the victory all the sweeter this time round.

The visitors started off strongly and opened the scoring. The ball was passed quickly to the left winger who raced three quarters of the length of the pitch, despite valiant efforts from Kyle Mcintosh and Timmy Kennedy, to touch down in the corner.

The Bellies extended their lead after a period camped in the Glens 22m area, touching down in the right corner. A drop kick conversion gave the visitors a 12-point lead after 25 minutes.

The try awoke the Glens from their slumbers and they struck back immediately with a mazy run from Shaun Gray splitting the defence. Cammy Goodall was on hand as Gray’s run was halted and he scored near the left touchline. Mcintosh hit an excellent conversion to narrow the lead further.

Another two minutes passed before Glenrothes took the lead. The Potbellies lost the ball deep in Glenrothes territory and Gray flyhacked the ball up the park. Two more kicks and he was touching down to the left of the posts. Mcintosh’s conversion was successful, though it took a bounce off the upright to force the ball over the bar.

Glenrothes scored their third try shortly before the interval when Ross Hutchison forced his way over the line following a lineout close to the Bellies’ goal line. Mcintosh converted cleanly from a wide left position making the score 21-12 at half-time.

Both sides took advantage of the friendly nature of the fixture to make a raft of changes at the interval, and throughout the half, with the home team fielding a lot of younger players and others playing in unfamiliar positions. Glens’ Callum Calderwood and Scott Herd took the ball to the 22m line and a grubber kick from Michael Delorey looked to put the Potbellies in trouble.

However, they recovered the ball and broke out of defence with suspect tackling and a couple of beefy hand-offs freeing the left winger who ran round behind the posts. The conversion took the Bellies to within two points of their hosts. The Dundonians then took the lead as referee Cromar penalised Goodall for handling in a ruck. The quick tap penalty caught the Glens on the back foot and the visiting centre ran in to the left of the posts. The conversion left Glenrothes trailing by five points.

The final score of the evening fell to Connor Young. Glenrothes recovered the ball and Young was back on his wing to receive the pass and run through a huge hole in the Bellies backline to score under the posts and tie the scores with Mcintosh’s conversion sealing the win.

Next weekend the first XV travel to Forfar to face Strathmore with the seconds at Carleton in a rearranged match against Grangemouth.