Dunfermline hunt down Stags for the second time

For the second successive week, Dunfermline locked horns with Grangemouth Stags.

However, while the match seven days earlier had been a league fixture with a tight finish, this time, the pair clashed on knockout business in the semi final of the Caledonia Regional Shield and the winning margin was considerably wider.

The outcome was the same, the Fifers again prevailing.

Angus Colson, Danny Clarke, Callum White, Matty Wilson and James Clayton all touched down for tries in the 39-8 win, while Adam Fraser added the rest of the points with four conversions and two penalties.

The reward for Dunfermline is a regional final against Orkney, with the winners securing a place in the last four of the National Shield and moving closer to a trip to BT Murrayfield for finals in April.

There was more good news for the Mckane Park club when former Dunfermline stand-off Gregor Mcneish earned his first international cap. Mcneish, who qualifies on residential grounds having left Scotland for Hong Kong three years ago, started at stand-off for Hong Kong in a 36-17 win over Belgium in Brussels on Saturday.

He is also in the running to be involved in Hong Kong’s second November test against Spain in Madrid on Saturday.

The semi-finals of the Caledonia Bowl both proved to be competitive affairs.

Dundee University Medics, beaten finalists in the National Bowl last season, returned from Anstruther with a 34-22 win over Waid FP and a place in the regional final in the bag.

The students will meet Kinross, who got the better of Madras by 22-17.

Dunfermline seconds extended their impeccable start to the Division Three campaign with a fifth successive bonuspoint win. This time, the victims were Dundee Morgan.

The Fifers’ 82-0 home win leaves them clear at the summit, five points better off than Bannockburn and Grangemouth Stags seconds. Morgan are second from bottom.

The one rescheduled match that went ahead in Division Four pitted Hillfoots seconds against Arbroath.

The outcome hung in the balance until the final whistle.

Arbroath eventually took the honours, returning home with all five league points under their belts after a hard-fought 40-36 win.

The Angus men move up two places to fourth.