Published: Thursday, 16th October, 2008 8:35am

Dunfermline Rugby Club lose ground with defeat

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Cartha Queens Park 23 Dunfermline 17

DUNFERMLINE Rugby Club suffered a second successive defeat in Glasgow on Saturday, allowing one of their closest rivals to narrow the gap between them.

With the wind at their backs, the home team spent the early exchanges in the Dunfermline half and went ahead through a penalty.

After more pressure from the home team, the home stand off struck a superb drop goal to extend their advantage.

This spurred Dunfermline into action and from a turnover, three slick passes saw the ball get to Sky Laurie, who sprinted 40 metres before drawing the home full back and sending Ross Neil in for an easy score which Ali O"Connor converted. Knock-ons from various players allowed the home team more possession than they probably should have had and from this possession Cartha played the territory game very well, pinning Dunfermline back for the rest of the half. Cartha were able to add three more penalties to their score before the half, going into the interval 18-7 ahead.

Now with the wind at their backs, Dunfermline"s tactics were obvious and they started well as O"Connor stroked over a penalty within 10 minutes of the restart. However, a lack of continuity meant they were unable to maintain any sustained pressure and this kept Cartha in the hunt.

The visitors conceded a series of penalties which led to them firstly losing a player and then a try as the home team used their extra man advantage to plough over.

Dunfermline replied when, following a scrum in their own half, Wayne Barr made a superb break and linked with Scott Swankie, who scampered over for a converted score which brought them within six points with 10 minutes to go.

A couple of crossfield kicks came to nothing as Dunfermline chased the game but more mistakes in important areas allowed the home team off the hook.

Dunfermline will hope to get back to winning ways this Saturday when they play one of the bottom sides, Perthshire, at home.