It's grim up north for Kirkcaldy

They arrived to find the Countesswells pitch bathed in autumn sunshine but sadly the sun was not to shine on their afternoon.

The home side came out of the blocks quickly and soon camped themselves in Blues territory, early pressure was dealt with but a Kirkcaldy-esque move at the lineout saw Gordonians take a lead with a converted try.

Front row Danny Jennings was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury before even five minutes had been played.

Kirkcaldy rallied and Dayle Turner was held up by the home defence - the first of four tries that were held up as the game would go on.

Jordan Sneddon made a great surging run for the line only to be thwarted by a last ditch tackle, indeed this was to be almost his last involvement as he injured a shoulder in the process and had to be replaced.

The momentum built was lost as seems to be the way for Kirkcaldy this season, shortly thereafter comfortable possession was surrendered and the home side saw another galloping try from halfway.

The Blues rallied and Dayle Turner went over as the home side struggled against a dominant Blues scrum and Fin Smith converted.

The Blues penalty count was high and the fussy referee seemed keen to penalise the Blues at every opportunity.

Inevitably, a yellow card was to be produced and Chris Mann was the victim after repeated infringements by the defending Blues.

The home team took advantage of this quickly and extended their lead with a further converted try.

Undeterred Kirkcaldy kept good possession and despite their man deficit Marcus Salt scored from close range to make the score 21-14.

The extra man advantage was exploited as the home side scored again and after Scott Anderson was harshly yellow carded, 13 man Blues conceded another try which saw the half time score at 26-14.

The Blues started the second half on the front foot and piled pressure on the home defence.

Marcus Salt was denied a try being held up as the Blues battered the home defence but this seemed to steel the home side as the momentum swung in their favour.

The Blues scrum had been dominant all afternoon but was inexplicably pushed off their own ball and the home side grew in belief.

The Kirkcaldy woe was increased as Rhys Bonner had to be helped from the field with a foot injury.

The home side had steadied the ship and extended the lead with a penalty before poor defence and handling conceded possession and surrendered a further two tries.

A late rally by Kirkcaldy saw Marcus Salt score his second try and former Kirkcaldy player Struan Robertson seeing a yellow card before the referee finally put Kirkcaldy out of their misery.

It was a frustrating afternoon - individual errors, players unavailable for a host of reasons, players having to play out of position due to injuries, four held up tries that on another day might have gone in their favour - the Blues need a bit of a rub of the green.

Back to the training field and physio table for Quinny Sanft and his boys.

Positives from the game being four youngsters Kai Penman, Robbie McLean , Jordan Sneddon and Stewart Small made their 1st XV debuts and none of them have anything to be embarrassed about in their performance.

FFP MotM points: 3 Marcus Salt, 2 Dayle Turner, 1 Scott Anderson.

The 2nd XV lost 15-41 at Beveridge Park against Panmure whilst the Colts also just came up short against Angus opposition when they lost 26-12 against Angus Colts at Strathmore RFC.