Three second half goals from Rothes, including two from substitutes, helped Rab Mulheron put one over his former club as the Speysiders progressed into the semi final of the ITP Solutions North of Scotland Cup at the expense of Fort William

The first half saw Rothes in the ascendency but on the whole they were restricted to going close from set pieces by a stubborn Fort William defence keen on repeating last year's win over the Speysiders.

The best chance of the half came at the other end of the field when centre forward Michael Gillespie crashed an effort off the post only to see Kevin Ferguson hit the rebound high over the stand and well into the Nevis range.

Early in the second half Michael Milligan was given the opportunity to test Stevie Dunn, breaking in on goal, but he decided to shoot early from the edge of the box rather than trying to home in on goals and opening up the angle.

Rothes made the all important breakthrough in the 63^rd minute of the game and it was Gary Spence who was the man in the right place at the right time to put an end to a goalmouth skirmish by nodding his first goal for the club.

Rothes had the ball in the net to the delight of the travelling army from Club 59, however even through Conk's specs the linesman could see that the goalhanger had been in an offside position for quite some time before knocking the ball home.

Daniel Mackintosh very nearly made an instant impact after his arrival on the park but the visiting keeper Steve Dunn did well to cut out his dangerous ball across goal.

There was a blow for Rothes in the 79^th minute when Man of the Match Ross Duncan was carried off the pitch with what looks like a nasty knock, however his replacement Donald Horsburgh was to net within four minutes of entering the fray.

The Horse, a Claggan Parker during Mulheron's time at the club, added a simple finish to an Ian Macrae ball in from the right to kill off any hopes of a fightback.  In the 89^th minute another sub, Kris Duncan, got his name on the scoresheet when he turned the ball home after Ian Macrae had struck the bar when returning a partially cleared corner into the danger area.

On the whole Calum Maclean will have seen signs of development as he continues to knit together this Fort William side but in the end the late goals ensured that the Speysiders go through.

Full Time Fort William 0 Rothes 3
Reporter: Jason Law