Hillfoots ............................ 31 Mackie Academy ............. 22 Hillfoots came away with an excellent win played in atrocious conditions.

’Foots elected to play with the elements and this proved to be a wise choice. Kicking off uphill Hillfoots looked comfortable with the ball in hand.

The forwards were keeping hold of the ball and the backs were making yards at every opportunity.

Andrew Hamilton opened the scoring with a typical surge through the visiting defence. Ian Nicholson was next over the line, gliding through the narrowest of gaps.

Elliot Firth stepped up for the forwards, bulldozing over from close range. Andrew Hamilton kicked all three conversions and the homeside looked to be cruising.

’Foots took their foot off the gas and the big visiting pack started to make some good gains.

Mackie’s first try came via a blunder from the ref. A blatant knock on was missed and with the home side expecting the whistle, Mackie powered over under the posts.

Spurred on by this the visitors pulled another score back before half time to make it 21-12 at the interval in favour of the hosts.

A stern talking to from coach Mcgee saw Hillfoots start the second half in determined fashion.

A penalty was prodded towards the corner and from the resultant lineout prop Paul Slade powered his way up the touchline to score in the corner.

Once again Hillfoots sat back and Mackie took full advantage. The penalty count was climbing and the visitors were making yards.

Another try brought Mackie to within nine and when Davy Cree found himself in the bin, things were looking bad for the Clackmannanshire outfit.

A converted score had the visitors within four, but with 10 minutes to go ‘Foots finally got their act together.

The forwards started to retain the ball and the backs were once again breaking the gain line.

A couple of surges for the line were held up short, but captain Mark Hunter wasn’t going to let his fellow front row mates leave the field without the big man grabbing a try for himself.

This settled the nerves and Hillfoots finished off the game by keeping the visitors in their own half.

All in all this was an excellent win in the end, but Hillfoots have to remember the game is played over 80 minutes and playing well for 50 minutes doesn’t guarantee you a win in this league.

Next up for Hillfoots is a trip to Dundee to face Morgan Academy this weekend.