With confidence oozing from the home side they attacked with great vigour throughout, scoring five good tries in the process.

Ageless centre Iain Fletcher rolled back the years and produced a jet propelled performance of pace and panache as he crossed the whitewash three times and even had time to play a cameo role as a pantomime villain for the opposition.

The capital fifteen had nothing to play for and they looked poorly motivated and sluggish throughout, though their centre and loose head prop had stand out games, breaking tackles and giving their side a platform they never looked like exploiting.

Strathie's player of the year, Graeme Nicoll, once again enhanced his reputation with a thunderous match in the second row. His work rate, along with that prowling mountain cat Stuart Gray, was truly astounding and this has been an area of strength throughout the campaign.

The match itself was played in a buffeting breeze that the blacks captain Robin Young decided to face in the opening half.

Veteran scrum half Mike Bruce used his tactical kicking to great effect, giving territorial advantage to the homesters throughout the opening forty minutes.

In previous games Strathie exerted lots of pressure on teams for little reward, showing that they lacked a cutting edge.

Whether it was a case of Strathmore hitting form or Lasswade playing poorly one cannot say definitively but the chances that were created and the tempo that the match was played at suggests that this was a fine collective effort.

Number eight Jamie Wilson made the first telling break. Sprinting fully fifty yards he was stopped just yards from the line.

Ever present second row Stuart Gray arrived on his shoulder like a French waiter to accept a popped pass and flop over the line for a fine five pointer.

Strathmore should have doubled their lead moments later when Jamie McLaren broke upfield and drew the last defender before passing to the unmarked Fletcher.

Obviously the rheumatoid arthritis had affected his handling skills as Fletch dropped the ball with the try line gaping.

Seeking to make amends, the spritely centre blasted through a gap and round three would-be defenders for a typical individual riposte from Strathmore's all time record try scorer.

Gary Robb missed both conversions into the wind but the home side was delighted with a ten point advantage at the break.

With the elements in their favour Strathie continued their dominance in the second half, as the front five started to exert real damage through their rolling maul.

Gaps started to appear and stand-off Gary Robb ghosted through one such space before chipping over the full back.

Seeming to have the ball tied to a piece of string, Robb took the ball one handed as he motored under the posts for a fantastic opportunistic score.

Substitute Gary Wood showed his nose for a gap in his time on the pitch, harrying and hounding round the fringes to keep the opposition back row honest and occupied.

Fellow sub Graeme Crozier certainly made an impact when he came on with his trademark booming tackles and hard running testing the Lasswade defence.

This led to a classic back-line move that left a Gobi Desert like gap in the middle of the visitors defence, with Fletcher striding like Moses through the Red Sea as once again a Strathie player went over in the shadow of the posts. Robb easily converted both of these tries.

Lasswade had been played off the park in the second half but their best player showed he hadn't given up the fight, taking a quick penalty that found the defence in total disarray for the first time in the match and strolled over down the left wing.

It was fitting that Strathie's reply should come from the superb, irresistible Fletcher, who, once again, looked as though he had all the time in the world, completing his hat-trick in the right corner without a hand being laid on him. Robb narrowly missed with the conversion but his display also gives heart for next season.

There will be new coaches and new players at Inchmacoble next year but hopefully the last three home performances show what can be achieved with hard work and continuity of selection.

Strathmore - R. Young, M. Marshall, C. Strachan, I. Fletcher, J. McLaren, G. Robb, M. Bruce, C. Sim, B. Morrice, A. Dalgarno, G. Nicoll, S. Gray, D. Atchison, C. Bell and J. Wilson; Subs - G. Dickson, G. Crozier and G. Wood.

The next event is the annual general meeting to be held at the clubrooms on Friday.

The club hosts the Angus 7s on May 10, with a host of activities to keep the family members occupied.