Published: Thursday, 9th October, 2008 9:35am

Derby disappointment for Dunfermline

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Dunfermline 5 Kirkcaldy 6

DUNFERMLINE Rugby Club matched their football counterparts by climbing to third in the league on Saturday, despite a disappointing derby defeat at fierce rivals Kirkcaldy.

In a match that promised lots but delivered very little, a whistle-happy referee combined with poor handling conditions to spoil the game.

Both teams were desperate to get the better start to put their opposition on the back foot with Kirkcaldy trying to overpower their opposition while Dunfermline sought to put pace into the game.

Kirkcaldy were awarded a penalty within the range of stand off Sanft and with the help of the crossbar he put the first points on the board.

Play again became scrappy but Dunfermline suddenly had a great chance to score when Wayne Barr broke out from his own half.

He linked with captain Scott Swankie who made further ground before finding Andy Brown. He could have linked with any of three team mates for an easy score but he chose the wrong option and decided to try to make it himself, without success.

Sanft secured another valuable three points from a controversial penalty just before the interval to give the visitors a 6-0 half-time lead.

The second half continued as the first with scrum after scrum and whistle after whistle.

However, from one scrum an almighty brawl erupted with most forwards getting in on the action, which led to the referee showing a yellow card to two home players and one away.

Dunfermline showed terrific resolve to keep the ball despite having a man less and came close to scoring.

As the players returned, the home side maintained the pressure and got their reward with a try for hooker Rob Hamilton.

But for the third time, the home kicker failed to capitalise and this led to a desperate final 15 minutes as Dunfermline attempted to find the elusive and deserved score.

But Kirkcaldy hung on to take the spoils leaving Dunfermline to head to Glasgow this Saturday to play Qartha Queens Park.