West of Scotland 6-27 Howe of Fife

Howe of Fife........................27

Howe’s first away game of 2018 was in wet, dreich conditions against West of Scotland, a side which has produced a lot of international players over the years.

The West side was somewhat makeshift, especially in the pack, due to injuries.

Howe of Fife looked classy team early on, but their initial attacks were foiled thanks to poor handling and good West defence.

They scored first though, when they found an overlap and centre William Wardlaw scored in the corner, unconverted.

West were competing well, and a good break from Gareth Hopkins nearly produced dividends.

Another good break from Angus Thomson ended up in a West penalty which Pete Burns converted for a 3-5 scoreline.

Most of the first half was dominated by a competitive breakdown and strong defence from both sides.

West went in 6-5 at the break after Pete Burns converted another penalty.

Howe of Fife suffered a yellow card when Grant Henderson upset the referee.

West couldn’t capitalise, the Howe’s defence holding up.

Perhaps the turning point was when West elected to kick to touch from a kickable penalty, but no joy from the lineout.

Howe capitalised, when an overlap found Ryan Milne in the corner.

Then a comedy of errors from the West defence saw hooker Connor Crawford score the Howes’ third, now leading 6-15.

It still looked close until an excellent chip over the West defence from out half Fraser Ellison found centre Duncan McIntyre collecting to score Howe’s bonus point try.

Howe then found another overlap, winger and former West player Graham Thomson scoring, Fraser Ellison making his first kick for the conversion.

West tried but failed to peg the points back and it ended 6-27.

In truth, the game was close until the final quarter.