Shire win to close in on title

Aberdeenshire closed in on the Caledonia 1 championship after beating Hillfoots 49-0 at Tillicoultry.

Second-placed Caithness lost 24-23 to Strathmore at Forfar, leaving the Woodside outfit needing eight points from four games to win the title.

Shire coach Eric Strachan was delighted his side scored seven tries. He said: “We were clinical in a great all-round performance. Our back row dominated and our standout was flanker Andy Forman, although our back three players were very sharp.”

Strathmore shrugged off the one-point defeat in the Regional Shield last week at Ellon to hand Caithness a similar reverse at Inchmacoble to move into third place in the division.

Mackie FPs continued their bid to break free of the threat of relegation, beating fellow strugglers Highland 24-20 at Redcloak, but still remain in bottom place, despite winning their last three games.

Ellon moved out of the relegation area with a solid 12-3 win at Countesswells where Gordonians could only muster a Will Fairlie penalty in answer to tries from Callum Scott and Aidan Holland.

Only three points cover the bottom three of Ellon (25), Highland (23) and Mackie (22) with more twists likely before the end of the season.

In the safety of mid-table Orkney turned in an impressive performance at Kirkwall, running out 29-0 winners against St Andrews University.

In Caledonia 3 North Kinloss Eagles were comfortable winners at Countesswells where they accounted for Gordonians 2nds 42-8.

Second-placed Shetland were runaway 86-0 winners at home to Inverness CD, while Dyce were too good for Mackie FPs 2nds, winning 43-0. Aberdeenshire’s 3rds won 24-14 away to Garioch 2nds.