Rugby: Dunfermline claim National League Division Four Linlithgow win

GAVIN EMERSON hailed Saturday's win at Linlithgow as "one of the best performances" his team have produced during his time as Dunfermline Rugby Club's senior men's first XV coach.

The McKane Park side ran in seven tries in West Lothian on Saturday to pick up a fourth win from six games - and another try-scoring bonus point - to move second in National League Division Four.

It sets up a mouth-watering home clash with Ardrossan Academicals, who top the table with six wins from six outings, this Saturday, and Emerson was thrilled with how his players handled what he described as a "hostile" crowd, and disrupted preparation due to team members arriving late.

"We didn't really get the best start, but, having said that, we kicked off the game and I think it was three and a half, four minutes, we scored the first try. I was like, oh, we're in here, let's have a go," Emerson told Press Sport.

"Then they got two tries straight after. I think it was like 12-7 down and I was like, oh no, here we go again.

"It was a tight first half, niggly from both teams. The ref had to give two yellow cards out, just to try and control the game a bit, and just get the passion down, but we ended up scoring the last play at half-time, so we actually went into half-time 14-12 up, which was like, right, brilliant, we're in here, let's have a go.

"We kicked off the second half and we ended up going eight down. I was like, what's happening here?

"Fair play to the guys. The boys actually stuck into the game, kept working, and then just improved game management, just changed slightly how we played to get success, being a bit more direct, creating the space and then obviously utilising the space for the backs.

"Again, we had three or four tries on the wings, which was amazing, so our pattern's working, and then we just kept scoring and scoring.

"They started getting a bit niggly with the ref. It was quite hostile throughout from the crowd towards our boys and to the referee. It was pretty poor for the ref to be honest, I felt sorry for him, but we came away with a bonus point and we didn't let them get anything from it, which was unreal. The boys played superbly.

Gavin Emerson was delighted with his side's performance. (Image: David Wardle)

"I actually said to them when I did my game break the other day there that it's probably one of the best performances I've seen from the side in my time at the club, just because of the maturity level.

"We kept the penalties down low, and we actually played how we practised to play, but then, also, the guys identified weaknesses, and I always say let's play to the picture that's in front, and the guys actually recognised that as a whole team.

"We just all got on the same page and worked really hard. The guys came off knowing they'd been into a physical game but we fortunately got the upper hand and came away with the bonus point win."

He continued: "It could have went either way.

"Like I said to the boys, and I've said this the past few weeks, second half we could have lost that game. We could have just fell away and got our heads down, and just took a thumping.

"They believe in each other. The boys are really starting to bond together and just get to know how each other are playing. Although we do maintain a wee bit of consistency in our selection, there's not been a week where we've gone week to week the same team.

"But it's working. The guys are showing real character.

"To get a score of that margin, we had two or three tries held up over the line, so we could have easily got over 50 away there.

"After we scored the first try, we had a breakaway again, good passage of play. We went direct through the middle, backs supporting each other, left and right passing, and then our scrum half got held up over the line. Somehow he managed to put two XL shorts on, and he blamed having the shorts too big for him that stopped him getting that ball there. I was like, that's definitely a different one there.

"It was good. We didn't have the best day off the boot, off the tee. We only got two out of eight kicks completed. I put that down to us not having the preparation, our kicker getting it early and going through his routine.

"So not having the boot that day, we came away with 40 plus points, so imagine we had got the boot that day, it could have been a bigger score.

"I was over the moon with the boys, it was really good. There seems to be a good vibe going on at the minute."

On the challenge of facing the league leaders, Emerson added: "Obviously this weekend there'll be a trickier test, Ardrossan coming across to McKane. I think they've not been beaten yet.

"We're currently sitting second, but Strathmore are behind us with two games in hand, so we're second or third, depending on how Strathmore get on with those games, so Ardrossan are sitting at the top.

"But we're up for it, you know. We've nothing to lose; if we lose the game, we stay where we are, if we win the game, we move up, so definitely the pressure's on Ardrossan to come over to sunny Fife and put on a show for us."