Tennent's Caledonia Region League, Division One:

Garioch 0 Dunfermline 26

DUNFERMLINE skipper Clarke Smith insists that the title door is "still ajar" for his side after they defeated Garioch on Saturday.

With Orkney, the undefeated league leaders, out of action due to the weather, the McKane men took advantage with a fifth bonus point win of the campaign to move within nine points of the summit.

Both clubs have played 10 games but, having lost to the islanders at home in November, Dunfermline find themselves playing catch-up.

But, after tomorrow's home match with Grangemouth Stags was postponed, the next scheduled assignment for Smith's men is the long trek north in eight days time.

It's an 80 minutes that could determine Dunfermline's title chances, and he has called on them to be ready to take advantage of any Orkney slip-ups.

"We've played equal games now and are nine points behind but we still have to play them. It's a big ask but the door is not closed yet, it's still ajar," he commented.

"If anything does happen, we need to make sure we are ready to take advantage."

Although he felt that the final scoreline wasn't completely reflective of the afternoon's play, Smith was satisfied with Dunfermline's work in Inverurie, but believes there are aspects of their game they need to execute better.

"It was a good performance on Saturday. The pitch held up very well and it was a good result for us and a bonus point win as well," he continued.

"The scoreline didn't wholly reflect our dominance of the game. There were a lot of handling errors on both sides because of the conditions, and we were trying to push the pass too much.

"But that's the second game in a row where the opposition haven't scored against us so that's a massive positive."