Stewartry return to action with 40-26 victory over Dunfermline

After a week of cancelled games due to bad weather, Stewartry were back in action on Saturday as they hosted a strong Dunfermline side at Greenlaw and came away with a hard-fought 40-26 victory.

In the reverse fixture earlier on in the season, Dunfermline ran away 45-13 winners at home but two late tries from Sandy Currie’s men ensured that Stewartry took the spoils this time around.

The opening exchanges in a rain-soaked Castle Douglas were cagey, with both sides struggling to find an advantage in the game, giving away a number of early penalties for high tackles and offsides.

It was the home side that drew first blood through fullback John Picken who dotted down a well-worked overlap in the right-hand corner to open the scoring.

The two sides then traded penalties and, right on the stroke of half-time, the visitors crashed over the line for a try from a driving maul to lead the game 13-8 going into the break.

The Blacks scored first in the second half through prop forward Ash Mathias who carried hard from a ruck five metres out, bumping off two defenders before diving over under the posts to level the game before Picken added the extras.

In the following 20 minutes, Stewartry and Dunfermline then traded two penalties each once again to set up a nail-biting finish for the last 10 minutes with just two points separating the sides.

Stewartry vice-captain TJ McCarney took matters into his own hands as he took a pop ball from the back of the ruck to slice through the heart of the Dunfermline defence and round the fullback to score his eighth try of the season and give Stewartry some breathing room.

Just three minutes later, scrumhalf Archie Nicolson grabbed the bonus point try for the Greenlaw men and all