The Brandanes were a shade unlucky to lose to Westerlands in tricky conditions at Dumbreck on Saturday, but the Glasgow side are fast catching up with the top of the table after making inroads into their fixture backlog, and they remain firm favourites to finish the campaign on top of the table.

Facing the tricky combination of a soft but bumpy pitch and a wind which was gusting all over the place, the Brandanes started the match employing their tried and tested tactic of keeping the ball on the ground - but Westerlands had done their homework well and it was the hosts who had the first serious attempt on goal, Danes keeper James Dunn doing well to hold a good strike by the home number nine on 12 minutes.

As in previous games the Danes' front three of Troy McKerrell, Stuart Brady and Wes Pattison were putting themselves about, but the Westerlands defenders weren't averse to simply pulling their opponents down when they posed a threat, though always well away from the penalty area.

Skipper Neil Whitelaw was given very little time on the ball by a well marshalled Westerlands side, but neither team was able to take control of the game in the opening 20 minutes.

Brady forced a good save from the Westerlands keeper after a good through ball from Whitelaw on 21 minutes, and at the other end Gary McGregor and Joe McMillan were coping well with high balls into the danger zone in the swirling wind, Eddie Lench and Alan Poole mopping up the defenders' knock-downs whenever required.

The Westerlands keeper raced from his goal on the half hour mark to clear the ball from the feet of Pattison, while a well marshalled Danes back four caught three or four home players offside from a free kick 35 yards from the visitors' goal.

Ten minutes before the break the Danes won a free kick 30 yards out, and from Lench's good ball into the home penalty area McKerrell fired a first time shot back off the upright, Whitelaw prodding the ball into the net after a scramble in the six yard box.

It looked like a good goal to most, and the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the centre spot - only to signal that he was actually awarding a free kick to Westerlands for a foul on the keeper.

Sadly that turned out to be the first of several dubious decisions from the man in the middle, but there were few complaints from either side when, early in the second half and with the scores still blank, Harper was pulled down for the third or fourth time by the Westerlands number eight, the home player earning a yellow card for his efforts.

Both teams were very evenly matched, but with the pitch now beginning to cut up in places and players finding it hard to keep their feet, it seemed increasingly likely that a mistake would be responsible for breaking the deadlock.

And while that didn't quite come to pass, the style of the goal mattered little to Westerlands when they took the lead on 63 minutes, the ball being scrambled over the line after a low ball into the Rothesay penalty area.

The goal came after a sustained spell of pressure which saw Lench and McGregor clear the danger at the last possible moment, but having fallen behind Rothesay wasted no time in coming back at their hosts, Pattison clipping the crossbar with a good shot after being played in by McKerrell before Whitelaw was denied by a fingertip save from the Westerlands keeper.

Stuart McKechnie saw a cracking 40-yard drive parried and then just about held by the Westerlands keeper as the increasingly jittery home defence took to booting the ball out of the park at every opportunity.

McKechnie made way for Justin Tait for the last ten minutes as the Danes sought a way back into the match, and Iain Livingstone went off on a marvellous run through the Westerlands defence with eight minutes to go, only to slip on the surface as he lined up his shot.

And with practically the whole Rothesay team pushing forward in the closing moments, Westerlands produced a textbook finish to the match three minutes into stoppage time, playing a long ball out of defence which was squared to the home striker, who had all the time in the world to drive the ball past Dunn and seal the points.

At the close of play the referee was asked about the disallowed Danes goal in the first half - he indicated that the home keeper had possession of the ball at the time and Whitelaw had won it illegally, though he insisted that by pointing to the centre spot after the goal he was indicating a foul against the Brandanes' skipper.

Saturday's slightly unfortunate defeat leaves the Danes with an away record for the season of five wins, one draw and two defeats from eight away league matches - still an excellent record in anyone's book.

Team: Dunn, Lench, J. McMillan, McGregor, Poole, Whitelaw, McKechnie, Harper, McKerrell, Brady, Pattison. Substitutes: Livingstone, J. Tait, McCready, Guy, Sprowl.

* Cambusbarron's 1-0 win at Muirend on Saturday sets up a mouthwatering clash between the sides in Rothesay this Saturday, April 26.

It's the final game of the season for both teams, who are tied on 28 points after 15 games, and while Cambusbarron have the slightly better goal difference and would remain on top with a draw, the Danes need to go all out for victory.

The question of league reconstruction for next season has not yet been fully resolved, but a home win on Saturday could yet see the locals playing up a level in 2008-09.

Not surprisingly the club is appealing to all former players, mums, dads, children and anyone else interested to come along to the stadium on Saturday to roar the local boys hopefully to victory, and certainly to show support for a team which has done the island proud with its performances this season.

The match kicks off at 2.30pm at the stadium pitch in Rothesay's High Street.