Glenrothes landed the RBS Midlands Bowl and a place in the semi-finals of the national competition when they squeezed past Stirling University 23-22 in a nerve-jangling encounter at Carleton Park on Saturday.
The twice-postponed clash looked to be in doubt again after all three potential pitches in Stirling were unavailable or unplayable.
However, the referee pronounced a soggy Carleton Park playable after a late inspection, giving the Fifers home advantage. Despite Glens playing on their home patch, it was the students who made the better start.
They hit the hosts with two early tries before Glens struck back with a try from Jordan Grubb and a Shaun Gray penalty for a 12-8 interval scoreline in favour of the students, who had further tries either side of a Michael Delorey score to build a 22-13 lead.
But Glens showed their battling qualities to bag late touchdowns from Steven Varney and Willie Maxwell to snatch the win by the slenderest of margins. Glens will now face the East Bowl winners St Boswells on March 29.
The winners will progress to the National Finals Day, which has been switched from Murrayfield to the artificial surface at Broadwood because of work to replace the pitch at the national stadium.
Meanwhile, in RBS Caledonia Division 3 (Midlands), Kirkcaldy moved up a place in the league table and they now occupy fifth spot after posting a 39-15 win away to Waid Academy.
Elsewhere, Perthshire seconds extended their advantage at the top of Division 4 (Midlands) to 13 points with a 39-8 win at home to Arbroath.
With the Perthshire first team currently topping Division 1, the Inch club is on track for a double success. Falkirk seconds extended their winning run to four matches when they saw off Stirling Bridgehaugh 41-21.