Dunfermline 38 Carnoustie 8

FREE-SCORING Dunfermline earned a second successive league victory as they ran in six tries to see off Carnoustie on Saturday.

Caine McIntyre’s team proved too strong for their Tayside opponents at McKane Park, recording a bonus point win to earn a fifth victory in BT Caledonia Division One and build on their 19-12 success at Harris Academy.

The visitors had recorded just two wins so far going into the game and with the Blues boasting a defensive record that is only bettered by league leaders Gordonians, Carnoustie got little change from a dominant Dunfermline side.

Two converted tries were countered by a penalty to put them into a commanding 14-3 half-time lead before the hosts turned on the style in the second period.

The lead was soon extended by another seven points to 21-3, with Harvey Gardiner and Paul McKinlay (2) crossing the line, and a push by the forwards allowed replacement Stuart Roy to cross the whitewash for the bonus point try, although the usually reliable Graeme Low missed his first conversion attempt of the afternoon.

Carnoustie were then awarded an interception try but, after the kick to add the extras was missed, Dunfermline powered on to score two more tries through Martin Punter and skipper Colin Stewart, the latter of which was converted to give the home team a convincing victory.

Meanwhile, in Caledonia League Division 3 Midlands (South), Fife Southern maintained their good start to the season with a thumping 48-3 win at Bo’ness.

The Rosyth outfit were gifted an early score by the league’s bottom dogs when confusion in the home ranks allowed Ryan Shannon to pounce on the ball five metres out and touch down.

Two more tries followed for Shannon but, in the final 20 minutes of the opening period, flanker Ricky Jones was sin-binned and that allowed Bo’ness to gain a foothold in the match and get themselves on the scoreboard with a penalty.

The Sharks though underlined their dominance with three tries from Craig Paterson, securing a bonus point, and victory was polished off by two more tries from captain Ewan Brand and prop Tom Lessels.

Shannon’s boot added eight points through conversions to complete a convincing victory.

While Southern travel on Saturday to Grangemouth second XV, who are one place above in second, Dunfermline face a tough test at McKane against Gordonians, who thrashed Mackie Academy 114-5 on Saturday. Kick-off is at 2pm.