Kirkcaldy Rugby Club face anxious League Cup wait after beating Howe of Fife

The Blues’ progression is now dependent on the outcome of the Howe v Falkirk group finale match on Saturday, March 22, when a bonus point Falkirk victory by 14 points or more will see them top the group and reach the last eight at Kirkcaldy’s expense.

"Essentially we are looking for our Fife rivals to do us a favour now,” said Kirkcaldy skipper Fin Smith. "It would be good if Howe could put one over Falkirk or at least keep the score quite close.

"There’s every chance that going down to Cupar could be a tougher game for Falkirk than we had. It depends what team Howe of Fife put out and how they’re doing in the league.

"Hopefully they put a strong side out and give Falkirk a good game. Falkirk are pretty secure in the league so they’ll probably be looking for a good cup run.

"I think the fact that Falkirk know what they have to do definitely helps them. They still need to win the game, but I think knowing exactly how many points they need to score and win by is a bonus.”

Last Saturday’s Blues-Howe match saw a Smith penalty put the hosts 3-0 up, but Howe responded with a converted try to lead 7-3.

But Kirkcaldy hit back to be 24-7 up at half-time, extended to 32-7 with ten minutes remaining, before a couple of Howe tries – one of which was converted – added some respectability to the score for them.

Kirkcaldy’s points came via tries for Rhys Bonner, Robbie Penman, Connar Littlejohn and Ethan Murray, plus two penalties and three conversions for Smith.

"I would say the win definitely met expectations,” the skipper added. “We were a bit disappointed to give away a couple of easy tries at the end.

"But it’s been a tiring few weeks and the boys were probably out on their feet and fatigued. The performance itself was pretty dominant though. I personally didn’t feel we were going to lose that game. We were thoroughly in control which was really good.”

Kirkcaldy host sixth-placed Berwick in an Arnold Clark National League Division 2 match this Saturday with a 3pm kick-off.

Smith added: “We know Berwick are a pretty tough team. We managed to get a rare win down there earlier this season which was quite hard fought.

"They’re a tough side. I think they’ll be safe in the league but they’re still fighting for that security so it will be a tough game.”