Nostalgia: Kirkcaldy Rugby Club step back up to the big time in 2000

On Saturday, March 25 they overcame East Kilbride in convincing style with a 40-17 victory at Beveridge Park to gain promotion to the First Division along with champions Boroughmuir.

The whole Kirkcaldy staff knew that East Kilbride would provide dangerous opposition having won the first game between the sides in Lanarkshire the previous November.

Just how hard it was to be for the Blues was there for all to see just after the break when East Kilbride went into a 17-16 lead, having previously overcome a 13-3 deficit to edge ahead by a point.

The turning point of the game came quickly after East Kilbride had taken the lead in the 43rd.

Minutes later Craig MacDonald’s fed Richard Bethune on the blind side and the scrum half made no mistake in the clubhouse corner.

The first half had been a see-saw affair after Derek McCombe had kicked a fifth minute Kirkcaldy penalty, Gerry Agnew replied similarly four minutes later, then McCombe lost no time in making it 6-3.

East Kilbride flourished when short handed after Stevens was sent to the sin bin and for a 15 minute spell took charge of the game as they ran the show and near the Kirkcaldy goal-line the ball was worked out to flanker Glen Tippett for a scoring pass.

Three Agnew penalties took East Kilbride into a 14-13 lead and Kirkcaldy’s promotion bid seemed to be slipping away, however, the Blues recovered in injury time with McCombe’s third penalty and a 16-14 home half time lead.

In what turned out to be EK’s last flourish Agnew eased his side ahead again in the 43rd minute but soon after came a critical strike by Stuart Brown on the defensive five metre scrum and the balance of the game finally changed.

With Bethune pulling Kirkcaldy into a 21-177 lead and then McCombe going over after Hannah and Trewartha had prised open the EK defence, the home Kirkcaldy supporters in the almost 1000 strong crowd could breath a bit more easily with their side now 28-17 ahead.

The crowd had something to cheer about when Ferguson broke on midway from the half way line to feed McCombe coming up from full back.

The Irishman’s pass quickly went to Parsons who showed what a finisher he is as inches from the touchline he powered past two would-be tacklers to cross far out and run in to touch down under the posts for Kirkcaldy’s try of the season.

East Kilbride had committed their two forward replacements in the 62nd minute but this made no difference to a Kirkcaldy team now firing on all cylinders and it was wholly appropriate that skipper Neill Renton should round off the scoring in the last minute.

Celebrations started the moment full time was blown with coach Terry Trewartha soaked in champagne.