Strathmore 27-31 Glenrothes

The hosts had confirmed their position as runners up to Caithness and were defending an unbeaten record at Inchmacoble.

For their part the Reds fielded a strong team in their quest for third place in the league.

They got off to a disappointing start with the home team pressurising the Glens defence and opening the scoring after referee Stephen Greenhill awarded a penalty for Glenrothes infringing at a breakdown.

Strathy took a quick tap and were initially thwarted until fly half Stewart Ross threaded a grubber kick through and James Lockhart raced on to it to touch down in the left corner.

The two sides traded penalty kicks from Duguid and Alexander, before Strathmore scored with one of the few flowing moves of the period.

From a scrum, the ball was moved quickly through the hands to winger Dale Bell who dived in at the corner to give an interval score of 13-3.

Strathy increased their lead when prop Marc Scoular showed a pace which belied by his build, galloping down the wing and before offloading to the supporting Dave Vernon. Alexander converted.

Glenrothes struck back when the ball was shipped across the backline with Ryan Venters providing the final pass to Dylan Doyle who scored on the right. Duguid converted.

This score spurred the Reds on and they grabbed the next try through Emerson and Duguid converted the two. At the other end, Strathmore’s Glenn Feighan took advantage of a fractured defence from a lineout. Alexander’s conversion restored the home team’s 10-point lead at 27-17.

Glens’ response was immediate. The ball was moved swiftly from Emerson to Derek Mitchell to Duguid and then to David Gray who joined the line at pace and glided through to the line. Duguid converted.

The Reds launched another attack and captain Ross Hutchison received the ball close to the right hand upright.

Despite a clear overlap to his right he chose to go himself and forced his way over the line to put Glenrothes in the lead for the first time. Duguid’s conversion stretched the lead to four points at 27-31.

The battle for third place is going right to the end of the season with Dunfermline on 50 points having completed their games and Alloa and Glenrothes on 49 points with a game to play. These teams meet at Carleton on May 5 with the winner taking third place.