Howe of Fife and Kirkcaldy are among the five sides who collected maximum points from the opening weekend of the BT National League 2 while Perthshire and Dunfermline opened their National 3 campaigns with contrasting losses.
Howe didn’t have it all their own way against Hamilton at Duffus Park as the 27-25 scoreline suggests, and the visitors were on track for a morale-boosting win at the break going in 15-10 ahead.
Howe rallied after half-time but just squeezed that bonus point win to give them the ideal start.
Chris Martin scored a first-half try for Howe with Dom Martin adding a conversion and a penalty while Hamilton took the lead with tries from Chris McLaughlin and Craig Inglis, Owen McLeish adding a conversion and a penalty.
Howe upped the pace in the second half. Chris Martin grabbed his second try, Terry Turpie added a brace of his own and Dom Martin converted one while Andy Wilson’s try and McLeish’s conversion and drop goal left Hamilton agonisingly short.
It was even closer at Beveridge Park with Kirkcaldy edging Aberdeenshire by 28-27 in a cracker of a match which was tied 15-15 at half time and finally hinged on one missed conversion by Shire.
Mark Wallace had a double for Kirkcaldy, Greg Wallace and Dayle Turner had one apiece, Jamie Moffat converted one and shared a two-penalty count with Finlay Smith.
In National 3, Perthshire were level at 7-7 at Hawthornden but could only add a penalty in the second half as Lasswade went on to a 15-10 win.
Full-back Andy Whitelaw had Perthshire’s first half try and Ed Salter converted but they could only add a Salter penalty after the break while Lasswade finished up with two tries and a conversion.
It was a long hike back along the M8 for Dunfermline after losing 53-3 at Burnbrae against a rejuvenated West of Scotland and the McKane Park men will be looking to get a quick win under their belts or else may have to contemplate a long hard season.