Glasgow Caledonians strengthened their place near the top of the Celtic League but they made hard work for their fourth win out of six this season, 43-37 against Ebbw Vale.

The Welsh club, lying second from bottom in the table, arrived in Scotland without 10 injured players.

Yet the Steelmen lived up to their nickname, battling to a 20-20 scoreline at half-time before Caley found their form with 20 points in the third quarter.

The opening Reds try came from Scotland's New Zealand-born wing Shaun Longstaff, on his debut, and centre Ian Jardine added a second.

But tries from Rhys Potter and Brad Morris kept Vale in it.

The Reds led 27-20 thanks to a second try by Jardine and when scrum-half Graeme Beveridge went over after 59 minutes, they were out to 40-23.

Even then the Steelmen were not finished, and they plundered late tries by Shaun Connor and Jonathan Hawker.

Ultimately Reds were thankful for the kicking performance of Mark McKenzie, who booted a prefect nine goals from nine attempts. They were also boosted by a replacement appearance from Scotland full-back Glenn Metcalfe after his long lay-off.

The win lifted Glasgow up to second place ahead of Saturday's meeting between the league's two unbeaten sides, Bridgend and Cardiff.

Glasgow Caledonians - Shepherd, Longstaff, A Bulloch, Jardine, Craig, McKenzie, Beveridge, Hilton, G Bulloch, McIlwham, Griffiths, White, Reid, Simpson, Petrie

tries: Longstaff, Jardine 2, Beveridge; cons: McKenzie 4; pens: McKenzie 5

Ebbw Vale - Potter, Shorney, Matthews, Hawker, Harries, Strange, Betts, Thomas, B Morris, Penisini, Billen, Edwards, D Jones, M Jones, Green

tries: Potter, Hawker, B Morris, Connor; cons: Strange 2, Connor 2; pens: Strange 3

attendance: 2,100

referee - Jim Fleming (SRU)