WITH the title and promotion already in the bag, tension remained on the sidelines amongst the Dunfermline Rugby Club coaches.
The men's first XV had racked up a convincing, and impressive, bonus point victory over Aberdeen Wanderers that would seal top spot in Tennent's Men's Caledonia Region League, Division One, and a step up to National League rugby next season.
But head coach, Gavin Emerson, and his team were eager to see them put the icing on the cake by breaking the 100-point barrier, and, as the clock struck 80 minutes, one, difficult kick from the touchline would take them there.
"I was quietly saying to the coaches, anything less than 100 is not going to be right," Emerson, who saw his side lose out in the semi-finals of the National Shield on Saturday, seven days after their title triumph, said.
"I was just saying that as a bit of lip service, and we got to maybe 15 minutes to go, and we needed three scores. We were thinking, we don't know if we'll do it, but the boys got back to task, just started picking away, put the ball in the right areas of the park, and we got over."
Emerson believed that, with one tough kick to come, they were two points away from hitting the three-figure mark.
A successful attempt sparked delirium on the sidelines – only for the referee to take a look at the scoreboard, and tell the home contingent that he thought it was incorrect.
Emerson continued: "We were like 'oh no, he's going to be saying it's under 100 or something', but he was like, I've got it down as 102-0. We never even needed that kick!
"The boys, for the first time this season, didn't take a score (concede points). There were times where we lacked a bit of concentration, and allowed them to get in through penalties, and we just wouldn't let them over the whitewash. We were on our line for sometimes, and we still kept them away.
"To score 102 points was great but, more importantly, we didn't take anything."
After three previous postponements, Emerson had words of praise for Dunfermline's opponents, who ended the season bottom of the table without a victory, for playing the fixture that allowed the scenes of celebration that followed to take place at McKane.
"I don't know the actual number, but folk were saying that's the biggest crowd they've had in some time. It was fantastic," he said.
"I take my hat off to the Aberdeen boys; they came down, they stuck to it for 80 minutes, and their coach, who was touch judge, who was medic, who came on to play – it's a hard shift.
"It's credit to them that they came down and they allowed us to have that day, which was amazing. They didn't just roll over, sit back and let us get the scoreline up to where it was. We had to actually work hard for that and get the ball in the right positions.
"It was brilliant and I was really impressed by their levels of professionalism and sticking to the values of the game."
Emerson added: "It was a great day and two of our players, who have been with the club I'd hate to guess how long, they got to finish their last home game in style, with a big celebration, knowing they've played a massive part in putting the club forward, which was great.
"It was great for them to see, to get a run on, and finish on a high."
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