Another league leading side visited Beveridge Park for the third Saturday in a row, this time it was Preston Lodge who were also unbeaten and if recent encounters were anything to go by this would be a physical and feisty encounter.

PL kicked off and immediately piled pressure on the home side and after two minutes they scored out wide with what many thought was a forward pass in the build up, nevertheless a try was given and it was unconverted. After a bit of jousting the visitors scored once more after some fine work by their scrum half, this time converted for 0-12, the home side not really getting into the game at all after 6 minutes of play.

A decent line out and drive put pressure on the visitors but it was knocked on and the move broke down, however this was an indication that the Blues had decided to get involved in the game. As the visitors made heavy weather of clearing their lines Craig Hamilton pounced on some slack play and turned the ball over inside the visitors 22 and provided an opportunity for Connor Wood to crash over for a try. Converted by Fin Smith it was 7-12 after around 10 minutes of play.

The away side came back at the Blues and after some great defensive work they were held up after some good possession and without sounding petty an element of crossing in the build up to the chance.

Kirkcaldy regrouped and a kick to halfway for a Blues line out resulted in the hooker carrying at the rear of the maul, finding Centurion Stevie Milne who carried powerfully assisted by Kieran Mitchell. Smith then received the ball and skipped through to score a well worked team try under the posts, converted by the captain it was 14-12 after 23 minutes.

There followed a break in play as a Preston Lodge player had to leave the field with what looked like a nasty leg injury. Penalty to the visitors which was slotted away and it was 14-15 after the stoppage.

Another useful line out for the Blues ended in wasted possession and the visitors kicked into touch in the home sides 22. This period of play resulted in another conceded penalty and the visitors scored between the posts to make it 14-18 after 33 minutes.

Another brief period of physical play resulted in a high tackle on a Blues player and the resulting kick found touch. The effective Blues line out resulted in some neat handling and Rory Brown crashing in to score another well worked try. Converted by Smith and it was 21-18.
There was a yellow card shown to a visitor's player and more pressure from the Blues provided another penalty and Fin Smith stepped up to score again as we went into half time with the score at 24-18.

Kirkcaldy kicked off in the second half and some good play resulted in useful possession as the visitors were pinged for going off their feet. Fin Smith obliged with another penalty to take the score to 27-18.

Another driven line out from the Blues resulted in a decent break from Craig Hamilton who unfortunately was bundled into touch as Preston Lodge did their defensive jobs effectively. More positive play from the Blues followed as Conar Littlejohn, the Kennedy twins and Mat Collins all got involved in taking the game to the visitors.

As expected the match was very competitive and Rory Brown, Connor Wood and Kieran Mitchell were not holding back as both teams went toe to toe in a compelling battle.
The visitors won a penalty and scored on 57 minutes and it was 27-21.
The Blues came storming back and a clever break by Littlejohn found Stevie Milne who aptly scored in the corner on the occasion of his 100th league appearance. It was 32-21 as the conversion was missed from out wide after 61 minutes played.

Mat Collins was yellow carded for a high tackle as the battle commenced, strangely, the visitors appeared to knock on afterwards however play continued and they were awarded another penalty. Duly converted it was 32-24 after 65 minutes.
The flow of the game seemed to go in the visitors favour as a few decisions seemed to go their way at this point in the match, however the Blues stuck to their task and were back to 15 players after 70 minutes and were definitely fired up and competitive.
The Kennedy twins and first cap Jamie Green got involved taking the game to the visitors out wide, but decision making at vital moments let them down, however this looked to be a promising combination.
More feisty action in the centre of the field and some nonsense from both sides gave the visitors a penalty under the posts. Converted and it was 32-27 on 76 minutes.
More attacking play from the twins and the debutant and some excreted pressure from the pack led to a Blues penalty in the closing minutes of the game. Fin Smith converted again and it was 35-27 as the game came to a conclusion.
A good watch, too many penalties conceded (both sides) but entertaining, physical as expected and a very good result for the Blues although there are areas for improvement overall.