Another fine autumn day saw Harris take the field for the first time against Fife Southern – although many matches were played at Harley Street in the past against the former Rosyth & Distrist club this was the first under their new guise.  

The Harris side had an unfamiliar look with Kenny Clarkson, Dave Wright, Finlay Smart, Peter Bruce and Stuart Donald all missing from the starting line up and playing up the hill into the wind, Harris had the first opportunity with a penalty after only two minutes.  Unfortunately, Adam Wood’s mis-struck kick didn’t make the distance.  Only one minute later a further penalty for Harris resulted in a further mis-kick from Greg Swan.  Two significant let-offs for Fife Southern.

After a quarter of an hour, however, Fife Southern opened the scoring with a penalty to make the score 3 – 0.   On the small Rosyth pitch, Harris increasingly allowed Fife Southern to drag the game into a forwards contest and further penalties followed for the hosts after 23, 31 and 38 mins.

Before the first half had ended, Harris had lost both hooker Andy Quinn and inside centre Sama’an Akel to injury with Billy Gartley and Dave Wright stepping up to the plate.

Half-time Score: 12 – 0

The second half started with a great piece of follow up play by Harris winger Mike McDonald who burned off his opposite number over 50 metres to score behind the posts.  Stand-off Adam Wood converted to pull back to 12 – 7.

A period of poor discipline followed for Harris with a penalty given against Harris for ungentlemanly conduct.  This kick was missed but minutes afterwards, Harris captian Phil Yeaman had a moment of madness on his own line, conceded a penalty try and was sin-binned.  The try was converted to make the score 19 – 7 in favour of the home side.

A moment of confusion in the Harris 22 resulted in a ‘crossing’ decision and the ensuing penalty for Southern made the score 22 – 7.

With captain Phil Yeaman back on the park, Harris fortunes revived with a beautifully worked try by the three-quarters with Mike Dalrymple putting over Joe Abbott for a great score under the posts.  Adam Wood converted to bring the score to 22 –14 with only three minutes to go.

Then the Harris decision-making malaise kicked in again when a penalty was awarded close to the Southern line in the last minute,  At eight points adrift, there was the opportunity to slot over three points and collect the Losing Bonus point.  But the ball was run in predictable fashion and no score resulted.

Full Time Score: 22 –14

The SRU website shows a different score so some investigation will be required but this is another chance thrown away by Harris who have way more talent than is reflected in their league position.  

Organisation and leadership are badly needed.  Overall, there were good performances from Andy Quinn, Chas Quinn and Colin Gourlay in the forwards with Sam Astell putting in an energetic shift also.  The Harris back line was more secure in the second half.  At inside centre, Dave Wright felled oncoming opponents.  Marc Wilson showed blistering pace and increasing maturity.  The young guys continue to improve but the star of the show was Mike Dalrymple at full back who had an almost flawless game.  Well played Dally!

So much promise, but so many missed opportunities.