Following last weekends narrow loss the Blues headed to Peebles in a positive mood despite being without some regular starters being unavailable through injury.The weather at the Gytes was superb for the time of year and we were set fair for a great day of rugby.

Peebles dominated the early stages of the game and as you would expect from the home side they set up camp in the Blues half for the opening 5 minutes of the game.

The first try of the game came on the 5 minute mark which was duly converted to make it 7-0 to Peebles. From the restart Kirkcaldy regained
the ball from the home side with some determined efforts but subsequently knocked on which regrettably set the general tone for the afternoon from a Blues perspective.

Kirkcaldy were awarded a penalty following some shenanigans at a scrum and Fin Smith was unfortunate not to score from his kick from distance which narrowly missed the right hand post. Poor handling once again cost the Blues and a very kickable penalty was conceded and duly dispatched bringing the score to 10-0. It was soon 17-0 following a converted try from another conceded penalty 10m from the Blues try-line.

More pressure from Peebles and then an untidy pass was intercepted by Robbie Penman just inside the Blues 22. Young Robbie ran the length of the pitch to score for the Blues despite being aerodynamically hindered by his Movember moustache. The try was converted by Fin Smith and it was 17-7 and quite possibly a turning point in the game if the Blues could gain some momentum after a pretty poor start.

A yellow card for Peebles meant we had a numerical advantage and some determined play from Rory Brown resulted in ground being gained and a rare visit to the Peebles 22. Some more decent pressure from the Blues who were making progress at this point was halted by going off our feet and the opportunity to score was sadly wasted. The Blues freshened things up with a couple of changes then not long after, conceded a kickable penalty which meant the score was 20-7 going into half time.

The second half started with decent possession and Blues winning a free kick and taking the ball into the home sides 22 with a real determination. Unfortunately another missed opportunity to score came when just one too many rolls forward with the ball let Peebles off the hook 2 metres out from their try-line. Blues gained another penalty and it was well struck by Fin Smith to bring the score to 20-10.
Once again defensive frailty and soft shoulders led to a try for Peebles which was converted and it was 27-10 . This was followed shortly afterwards by weak defensive work and Peebles scoring again and converting once more. 34-10

More questionable defending following a poor scrum from a Blues perspective led to another converted try 41-10.
Blues lost Aidan Reddick to injury and a further re jig was required. Some good rolling rugby from Peebles led to another try out wide and a difficult kick to convert was missed 46-10.

Another yellow card for Peebles and a tap and go option gained ground in good field position until Blues were punished for coming in at the side of a ruck. Some chat to the referee led to 10metres being conceded and the Blues really need to learn from this habit going forwards.
Another great bit of play and good pace from Robbie Penman and Timmy Kennedy exposed a tiring Peebles side and unfortunately the chance went amiss due to a forward pass.

A late try from Kieran Mitchell after being denied minutes earlier was converted by Fin Smith to make it 46-17 and that was the final score.
If it could possibly go wrong today, it did.

Some valiant efforts out on the pitch married with some under par effort and decision making abilities meant the Blues left The Gytes with nothing points wise, but with a whole lot of work on for the next challenge.
A bad day at the office definitely, but we all have them from time to time, the trick is learning from days like this.