Snow first thing in the morning saw the EK green machine click in to gear to clear the pitch and ensure a game of rugby in EK today, our first home match since 29 November. Well done to the ground staff. It was a heavy, slippy pitch but the quality of rugby by both sides belied the conditions, so well done to both teams for putting on a nail biter.

EK had a last minute reshuffle, drafting in Ross Stewart on the wing for Robbie (got a cold) Greenfield who stepped down on to the bench. Despite a surprising Blackwood family attack (slow motion personified), the first points were claimed by Dunfermline through a penalty. 0-3.

The wet, slippy pitch made it difficult for defenders to change direction so the man in possession often had the advantage. A good kick chase by Stewart gave EK position in the visitors 22. A quickly taken tap penalty allowed Graeme Blackwood to power over for a try from his favourite distance - one yard – and his brother’s conversion made it 7-3 for EK.

Dunfermline responded well with good pressure, and a few missed EK tackles, allowing them to score a try by Graham Quarm in the left corner. No conversion made it 7-8. Silly mistakes by EK were giving Dunfermline position near the EK line but a lack of precision in the Dunfermline forwards, allied to excellent EK defence, saw three clear cut tries scorned.

Chris Mclellan upset the referee and earned a yellow card. Dunfermline drove a scrum and seemed destined to score but the ball got left behind! They then managed to knock on after a driving maul took them towards the EK line and concluded their series of mishaps by driving EK off their own scrum put in but then knocking on again. EK living dangerously, with the difficult conditions helping them.

EK centre Ian Brown saw his first sign of the ball after 35 minutes and had a good 25 metre scamper. This set up a line out from which EK gained an offside penalty which Bert Blackwood kicked to give EK a rather fortuitous but hard earned 10-8 half time lead. We won’t mention that he had missed a sitter in front of the posts some five minutes earlier!

Bert got another penalty after 50 minutes to make EK feel slightly more confident with a 13-8 lead. But he somehow managed to miss a straightforward penalty from some 43 metres on the right – it only hit the post. A fantastic kick in the conditions for no result.

EK came close to a try in the right corner but somehow managed to give Dunfermline possession and they worked the ball towards the EK line through a series of attacks and finally got their second try after 19 minutes. A missed conversion made it level at 13 all.

EK were bringing their bench on to try to gain control. Dunfermline were unlucky to lose a player to a soft yellow card for what the referee decided was a high tackle. But the next score was for the visitors. EK’s Shankie uncharacteristically knocked on and EK infringed in defending, allowing Zorpf to kick a penalty to make it 13-16.

It was then Dunfermline’s turn to knock on, and a good EK scrum drive saw the visitors concede a penalty which Blackwood kicked to tie the scores at 16-16.

Then the drama started with EK running the ball from their own 22 with barely minutes on the clock. They managed to retain possession and worked their way in to the Dunfermline half, where the visitors delighted the home support by conceding a penalty some 40 odd metres out.

With no time on the clock to retrieve the match, if he missed, Bert stepped up to try to convert the kick, his third 40 metre+ attempt. A challenging kick in any circumstances, made more difficult by the horrible clingy conditions. Third time lucky it was and so EK narrowly claimed the match points, leaving Dunfermline to think about what might have been.

It was an excellent game of rugby given the conditions, so credit to both sides. Dunfermline can only rue the lost opportunities in the first half, and the soft yellow card in the second half. EK can be happy for their determination, excellent defence and patience and belief in working hard to earn the final penalty. We have lost many matches to last minute kicks so we did not feel bad by gaining all four points in such a fashion. Dare I say, it’s a nice change!

Man of the Match – it could only be one person: the inevitable Calum Blackwood. Much deserved.

This result leaves EK still in sixth position in the league table, some 15 points adrift of 5th placed Royal High Corstorphine, albeit we have three games in hand on RHC.

Next week, EK are off to the East, to play old foes Preston Lodge. PL are currently third in the league, still in the hunt for promotion. A hard scrap is guaranteed.