Howe of Fife hoping to avert fifth loss on spin
A fourth defeat on the bounce on Saturday might have left Howe of Fife four points adrift at the foot of Arnold Clark National League Division 2 but opportunity knocks to escape from that basement spot as their next opponents are one of only two teams still within their reach.
The Cupar club’s 58-36 beating away to Falkirk at the weekend, four rounds into the new rugby season, saddles them with occupation of the division’s relegation place on two points from a possible 20 after previous losses at home to Newton Stewart by 36-17 and away to Highland by 70-0 earlier this month and by 13-12 hosting Peebles at the end of August.
Second-from-bottom Preston Lodge and eighth-placed Stewart’s Melville both lost out on Saturday too, however, by 38-24 at Dundee and 33-21 out west at Newton Stewart respectively, leaving them on six points apiece and just one win better off than the Fifers beneath them.
Bridging that four-point gap would likely require a bonus-point win, though, as both are on points-scored differences far healthier than Howe’s -112, the East Lothian outfit’s being -67 and their Edinburgh opposite numbers’ -32.
As luck would have it, two chances to try to catch up with the lower reaches of the rest of the table present themselves in quick succession this coming Saturday and the one after as Howe’s next two sets of opponents are Preston Lodge and Stew Mel.
Head coach Niall Lear’s squad are on the road to Prestonpans’ Pennypit Park this weekend and at home at Duffus Park to the capital city club seven days later, October 3, both kick-offs being at 3pm.
Howe’s seconds, on the other hand, are in the top half of their table, the Arnold Clark Caledonia Region League Division 1’s Midlands conference after mixed results so far this term despite having been handed three home fixtures in a row.
They went down 35-17 against Blairgowrie on Saturday, following on from being hit by a 76-7 hiding by table-toppers Grangemouth Stags a week prior and starting the season with a 60-0 victory against Dundee’s seconds back on Saturday, September 5.
They’re away to Perthshire this Saturday and that’s a 3pm start. They go into that game sitting fourth in their eight-team conference, on five points from three matches.