And in a perfect day for football, Clyde Valley Hawks moved one step closer to wrapping up the BYAFA Northern Conference title with a hard fought road victory over the Glasgow Tigers.

After an unsuccessful opening drive, the momentum swung back in the Tigers favour when heavy pressure forced the visitors to cough up possession after their first two plays, giving the Glasgow side excellent field position.

But a tough stand off from the Hawks meant the Tigers could not punch home their advantage and had to settle for a field goal attempt from Andy Burns, who made no mistake, splitting the uprights from 37 yards to open their account.

Clyde Valley tried to hit back on their next drive when Lewis Mathieson turned in an excellent kick off return to midfield.

But the Tigers were not prepared to surrender their lead at such an early stage and force the Hawks to punt the ball away deep into Tigers half.

And the stand off continued on both sides as they continued to battle for everything with no change in the scoring at the end of the first quarter.

Going into the second period the Tigers found themselves under pressure as the Hawks stepped up a gear and soon had the endzone in their sites, but following some excellent defensive work by the home side, the Hawks were set to try their luck with a field goal of their own.

But a breakdown in discipline from the Tigers, handed the Hawks an extra five yards and a new set of downs.

And minutes later the home side were promptly punished when Mathieson ran into the far corner for a touchdown.

The Tigers soon had the Hawks on the back foot when Kicker Burns, taking on the mantle of quarterback, fired a long pass to Scott McIntosh, who did well to keep the ball in bounds at the Clyde Valley 22 yard line.

However the home side missed out on a golden opportunity to get back in front when Burns fired a fierce pass up the middle right to McIntosh, who failed to smother the ball, letting it fall into the endzone.

But the Tigers were still able to finish the drive off when Burns delivered another text book field goal to tie the scoring.

The Hawks were threatening on their next drive with a power drive from Karl McCran, taking the visitors close to the Tigers goal line.

But the visitors blew the momentum as the Tigers defense dug deep, forcing the Hawks to turn over possession and hand the home side psychological boost going into the break.

Whatever was said on the Hawks sidelines appeared to make a difference during the early stages of the third quarter when they forced the Tigers to cough up possession deep in their own territory,

Steve Anderson diving on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown, with David Orr nailing the extra point conversion kick to give the Hawks an eight point lead.

The Tigers responded with an excellent kick off return from Nick Halfpenny to the half way line, but unfortunately for the home side, the drive stalled again.

During the dying embers of the third quarter, the Hawks had the goal line in their sites as Blake Kyle, weaved through a mass of bodies ending just short of the Tigers goal line.

At the start of the fourth quarter Kyle finished the drive off, crossing the goal line for another six points, with Orr delivering another 2 point conversion kick, leaving the Tigers with a mountain to climb.

Despite the 16 point deficit, the Tigers certainly had no intention of running up the white flag and continued to fight for everything that they could get.

And they gave the visitors some food for thought when Burns found an open Gary Bowman, who ran in a comfortable touchdown, with the Tigers quarterback converting another successful kick, bringing the deficit to just one score.

As the minutes continued to tick away, both sides continued to show no let up in the intensity, with no change in the scoring and time running out for the Tigers to save the game.

And with regular time having run out, the home side had one last chance to tied things up as Burns launched a desperate pass into the endzone, but was intercepted by Kris Henderson