Kirkcaldy 31-27 Howe of Fife: Skipper delighted as two sin bins can't deny Blues derby win

Despite Steve Milne and Robbie Penman both being yellow carded for professional fouls in the second half, Kirkcaldy Rugby Club battled manfully to dig out a 31-27 home Arnold Clark National League Division 2 victory over local rivals Howe of Fife last Saturday.

A fine first half for Quintan Sanft’s Blues saw them lead 17-5 thanks to tries by captain Craig Hamilton, Jo Dewar and Rory Brown, but Howe fought back after the interval before ultimately going down as Penman and Michael Brooks both then crossed the whitewash for Kirkcaldy, whose overall points total was supplemented by three Ethan Murray conversions.

Craig Hamilton scores Kirkcaldy's first try v Howe of Fife (Pics Michael Booth)

placeholder image — Craig Hamilton scores Kirkcaldy's first try v Howe of Fife (Pics Michael Booth)

Victorious Beveridge Park skipper Hamilton, speaking after Kirkcaldy’s losing league run was ended at three fixtures as they moved onto 18 points from seven matches in sixth place, told the Fife Free Press: "I think the best thing was that we started really well in the first half. We played really well, we controlled the game, we took our chances and it's such a massive relief to get back to winning ways.

"It was also really good to beat our rivals. Our tactic from the beginning was mainly just play to the structure as it really works.

Michael Brooks goes over for Kirkcaldy's final try

"We executed the game plan perfectly. The boys that are the playmakers and the decision makers were putting us in the right places at the right times.

"I think the game ended up closer than it should have been because we got two yellow cards in the second half. For a solid 20 minutes we played with 14 guys. We got a yellow card and then when that 10 minutes was up we got another yellow card.

"So we were defending short handed for 20 minutes.”

Kirkcaldy visit Stewart’s Melville in the league this Saturday in a 3pm kick-off.