Rugby: Falkirk fall to defeat at Kirkcaldy as Grieve points to 'tougher opponents' this season

Ace Duncan Tompkins in action for Falkirk (Photo: Gordon Honeyman)

Falkirk suffered an early blow to their National League Division 2 title hopes as they fell to a one-point 41-40 away defeat at Kirkcaldy on Saturday.

Having previously drawn 39-39 with Quintan Sanft’s team two weeks earlier in the National League Cup, this match-up was another tightly-contested encounter.

And Falkirk’s director of rugby Kenny Grieve reckons that pattern will follow for the rest of the season as the Sunnyside outfit chase promotion having fallen just short the past two campaigns.

"It is going to be pretty tight, the way the league is set-up this year,” Grieve said. “It has a different feel to it, if you look at the likes of Kirkcaldy, Preston Lodge, Berwick, Lasswade, all of these teams are similar.

"They have big forward packs and they will challenge you in that area. They probably aren’t as strong at with their backs. We maybe have a better blend overall but facing up against these opponents is tough going – everyone has improved significantly.

"The quality of the division has improved this season and it doesn’t feel like there is a top and bottom, everyone will be taking points off each other. The demise of the Super 6 has seen teams pick up better players.”

On the narrow Kirkcaldy defeat, he added: “We came up just short. We had our last score disallowed which our boys though was definitely scored. But we had big opportunities and we have a fair to bit to learn from.”

Falkirk now have a free weekend before returning to host Stewart’s Melville on Saturday, September 28. The seconds face Blairgowrie this Saturday.