DUNFERMLINE coach Derek O'Riordan says that his squad despite going down to a recent defeat against derby rivals Kirkcaldy.

The McKane men used a full compliment of 30 players in their squad for the pre-season clash, which allowed rolling substitutions and was split into four 20 minute quarters.

Dunfermline started in spritely fashion with a well-worked try by number eight Liam Quarm, with the kick converted by Graeme Low at full back. In general the first two quarters were a reasonably close affair, with two Kirkcaldy tries closing the first half with the scoreline at 10-7 to the visitors.

In the second half Kirkcaldy became more dominant at the breakdown securing key turnovers in the midfield area. Dunfermline's defence doggedly held firm for a considerable time, however a few cracks appeared after sustained Kirkcaldy pressure to allow the Beveridge Park team to add further tries to their tally. Dunfermline rallied towards the closing stages, going through the phases with the forwards which yielded a further two unconverted tries to leave the final score at 34-17 to the visitors.

O'Riordan commented, "Pre-season games are all about performance, match fitness and teamwork. The sqaud displayed encouraging qualities throughout the 80 minutes, and gives us plenty to focus on during the forthcoming training sessions."