'It was a horrible incident' - freak referee injury leads to abandonment of Boroughmuir v Kirkcaldy rugby match

It was also a sore one for Kirkcaldy as they were leading 19-5 at the time thanks to tries by Craig Hamilton, Fin Smith and Rhys Bonner, two of which were converted by Smith.

On the drama surrounding the match finishing early, Kirkcaldy director of rugby development Grant Letham told the Fife Free Press: “We were basically waiting for the ref to blow for half-time.

"We got a penalty and rather than kick it dead we went to scrum them. And, as a result of that scrum, the referee lost her footing, fell over, collided with a player, ended up with a head injury and wasn’t able to continue.

"It was a horrible thing but it was purely accidental, there was nothing sinister about it, just a collection of bad occurences at the one time.

"I have spoken to her since, she is well and she’s going out to referee in Dubai at a sevens tournament this weekend so all’s well that ends well.”

While prioritising their relief that the referee is ok, those of a Kirkcaldy persuasion will likely be irked that a freak accident denied them a potential victory.

“We were three tries to one up against the wind,” Letham said. “And the boys were looking good, things were clicking. Boroughmuir were still very much in the game but we were at least hopeful we’d have got a result.”

Kirkcaldy, seventh with 24 points from nine games, host second-placed Falkirk – who have won their last seven matches – in the league this Saturday with kick-off at 3pm.

"Our boys will have taken some confidence from the first-half at Boroughmuir,” Letham said. "It was a positive start.

"Falkirk are a decent side. They’ve had a really good run of results lately.

"Everybody is capable of beating somebody else in this league.

"There are coupon-busting results every week!”