Tennent's Caledonia Region League, Division One:

Dunfermline 62 Hillfoots 7

GAVIN EMERSON described Dunfermline's try-laden victory over Hillfoots on Saturday as "quite close to the best we've played".

The McKane Park men's first XV turned on the style to run in 10 scores – three of which the head coach has submitted to Scottish Rugby for Try of the Month – to secure another five-point win.

Although the visitors led 7-5 inside the opening five minutes as both teams exchanged tries, Dunfermline settled into the contest and went on to record an emphatic victory thanks to what the head coach felt was fine game management.

"It was really good. I'd say it's quite close to the best we've played yet," Emerson told Press Sport this week.

"We leaked a try very early on – we scored, then they scored, so they were winning 7-5 within five minutes – but then, after that, we just settled into the game, and our game management was really, really good.

"We didn't play rugby in our area. We just put the pressure on them and tied with a really good kick-chase. They just kicked the ball out, and we gained possession in their half.

"It was good to watch. I did the video analysis and it was probably the most positive one I've done for the boys, which was quite nice for them to read some really good feedback.

"There were lots of good team tries. To score 10 tries, and concede one ... it was awesome. It was a really good performance.

"It was well-worked and, for the coaches, it was nice to see a lot of stuff that we've been working on over the past few weeks come out on the pitch.

"The score would make it look like Hillfoots just lay over and let us batter them but that's not the case. They kept really trying throughout the game but the boys were just switched on.

"There was a good amount of support there. There was a bit of a sponsors' lunch so it was quite nice for them to see how well the boys are doing."

The result moves Dunfermline five points clear at the top of the table, with closest challengers Ellon facing Aberdeenshire this weekend.

"I think we're a good few points clear now so it puts a bit of pressure on Ellon for when they play next because they need to get a five-point win, but our main aim for that game was obviously to win, but to get a big points difference, to keep that pressure on in the league," Emerson said.

"Being able to get that was really good. It puts us in the driving seat really."

Last Friday evening, a Dunfermline second XV hosted Heriot's third XV in a friendly, with Emerson adding: "They got beat; they (Heriot's) might be the third XV on paper but there's lots of young boys who are very good at rugby.

"We got 24 boys some game time on the Friday night so it was quite good just to show the depth and strength of the club, of how many players we've got able to field on one weekend."

Meanwhile, Rosyth Sharks picked up their second Tennent's Caledonia Midlands Region League, Division Three victory of the season by defeating Strathmore seconds at Harley Street.

The home side, having lost at Perthshire seconds and at home to Harris Academy in their past two outings, in the league and the Caledonia Midlands Bowl respectively, secured a win before they head into a two-week break without a competitive fixture.

Head coach Mark Love said: "It was a good result for us on Saturday.

"I think the guys have taken on board what we've been doing the last couple of weeks. The structure that we've been working on worked well and we got a decent win.

"It's certainly been coming and one of the key things from previous weeks is we cut out a large percentage of the penalty count that we had, which had been killing us at points where we've done a lot of the hard work, and then give away a penalty in key areas to get kicked back down the park again.

"That was a big positive and also we stuck to the structure, which ultimately got us the points on the board.

"The previous week, we had yellow cards, and the week before that, we had a yellow and a red. You need 15 men on the park to get that win.

"Where we've been close, you can see where the errors have cost us the victory as such."