HISTORY will be made at Woodmill High School today as Dunfermline Carnegie play their first-ever match in the Scottish Hockey Men’s Premiership.

The men’s first team, who concluded their pre-season preparations with a 7-1 win over Perthshire, will host Inverleith firsts in a landmark encounter that has been more than a year in the making.

And, after more than 18 months without a competitive game, Dunfermline Rugby Club, and Rosyth Sharks, returned to league action last weekend and are set to come back for more this afternoon.

Last summer, Dunfermline and Carnegie Hockey Club's men's firsts were granted promotion to the game’s top tier after its governing body reached a “unanimous decision” that completing the outstanding fixtures of the 2019/20 season – cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak – would not be possible.

League placings were decided subsequently on a points-per-game average and Dunfermline Carnegie, who were second behind Inverleith on goal difference, having played a game fewer, were promoted to the Premiership for the first time in the club’s 112-year history.

The achievement was hailed by the club’s development officer, Gordon Johnston, as a “fantastic achievement”, which “represents many years of hard work and commitment”.

The match has a 1.30pm start.

The ladies’ league season got under way last Saturday, with the second team travelling to play Eskvale at Lasswade.

Despite good play on both sides, and a number of efforts on goal from Carnegie, the opening half ended scoreless but, after a positive half-time team talk, Carnegie re-emerged with renewed purpose.

Shortly after the restart, Zahra Kerbalai slotted beyond the home keeper after a fantastic solo run to give them the lead, before completing the victory 15 minutes later.

Having been awarded a penalty corner, Gill Oswald’s fine ball in was deflected at the post to allow Kerry Jackson to score, sealing an encouraging start to the East District Division Two season.

Carnegie’s ladies’ thirds were also in action, against Livingston and West Lothian ladies’ seconds, but had to settle for a point in their Division Three opener.

Both teams enjoyed some strong attacking play in the first half, with Carnegie holding off a couple of penalty corners thanks to some strong defending, and that proved vital as they led at half-time.

Successive attacks from Carnegie left the opposing defence scattered and, following a lovely pass from Amy Bennett, Janet Onyia was on hand, on the penalty spot, to open the scoring.

The West Fifers began the second period with renewed vigour, putting their opponents under greater pressure at hit-outs which earned successive penalty corners, but they could not be converted.

Livingston, however, equalised when an attack on the left saw the ball turned in on the rebound from the goalkeeper and, although Carnegie found further opportunities, they couldn’t find the winner.

Clare Morgan was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Dunfermline 35 Glenrothes 14

Meanwhile, in rugby, Dunfermline made a winning start to their Tennent’s Caledonia Region League Division One campaign in positive fashion with a bonus-point win over Fife rivals Glenrothes.

In their first competitive match since March last year, the McKane Park men ran in four tries as they recovered from an early visiting score to claim a five-point victory.

Glenrothes were first on the scoreboard after seven minutes with a converted try, with the home side struggling to find a way over the whitewash at the other end despite enjoying territory deep in their opponents’ half.

A trio of penalties, however, from the reliable boot of Adam Fraser edged Dunfermline 9-7 ahead by the half-hour mark, and they notched a pivotal score right on half-time.

David Lovelock was the man who crashed over, with Fraser adding the extras, to give Stuart Brown’s team a 16-7 advantage at the break.

Within a minute of the restart, Lovelock crossed for his second try of the afternoon.

The converted score gave the hosts some breathing space and, with 12 minutes to go, Lovelock turned provider for skipper Cammy Dunn to get his name on the scoresheet.

Fraser again kicked the conversion successfully to give Dunfermline a 23-point lead, which they extended by another five thanks to Lovelock once more with four minutes left.

A late converted score was mere consolation for Glenrothes, and Dunn said: "At the end of the day, we’re pretty happy with the win and a bonus point to start the season.

“It was a frustrating first half. They scored first; we wanted to come out of the blocks early, and we didn’t do that.

“In the second half, we shored things up.”

There was, however, a losing start for Rosyth Sharks in Caledonia Midlands League Division Three, as they went down 26-0 to Dundee Rugby second XV at Harley Street.

In the same division, Dunfermline seconds were awarded victory against Montrose and District, due to the latter having insufficient players, while their third XV were beaten 69-22 at Arbroath in Division Four.

Today, Dunfermline’s first XV travel to Hillfoots, (kick-off 3pm), with Rosyth travelling to Waid Academy FP.