Jonny Wilkinson had a night to forget leaving 15 points off the board with four missed penalties and a botched drop goal from close range, however he kept England in the match finishing with nine points.
All of Scotland's points came from the boot with reserve no.10 Dan Parks kicking a penalty and a drop goal while fullback Chris Paterson kicked a penalty in each half.
Scotland had a stroke of bad luck early in the match when first five-eighth Ruaridh Jackson limped off within the opening five minutes with a hamstring injury.
Despite that they were first on the scoreboard when English prop Dan Cole gave away a penalty at scrumtime on the nine minute mark. Chris Paterson made the most of the chance for the opening points of the match with a penalty from out wide.
Scotland had the majority of possession in the opening 15 minutes as England seemed happy to kick any ball they got to test their opponents in the wet slippery conditions. The Scots' positive play was rewarded with a second penalty attempt as England's Louis Deacon and Coles again were caught offside at a ruck.
A change of kicker but it was the same result for Scotland as Dan Parks, Jackson's replacement, made it 6-0 but only after a video review was needed to determine whether his low attempt snuck over the crossbar.
On the 20 minute mark Wilkinson had a chance to close the gap to three when Scotland wouldn't release Ben Youngs in a ruck but his first attempt fell short to the left.
The usually deadly accurate kicker then missed two more attempts within five minutes.
Scotland continued to dominate territory with some deft touch finders to force England to play in their own half. It almost led to another three points when from a turnover Parks took a drop goal attempt which just fell short.
Wilkinson finally got England's first points with six minutes remaining in the first half, successful with his fourth attempt at goal to make it 6-3.
However Scotland again went down the England end of the field and went close to scoring before Parks ended the half with a drop goal to give Scotland a well-earned 9-3 lead at halftime.
Scotland deserved the halftime lead after not missing a tackle in the first half and having the edge in territory however six handling errors stopped them from having a bigger lead.
A break down the lefthand touch by Delon Armitage at the start of the second hald saw England get a rare taste of the Scotland 22 however a quick turnover and their chance was wasted.
Back to back turnovers at scrumtime again put England in scoring position but Wilkinson's wayward night continued as he pushed a dropgoal wide from close range in the 47th minute.
A Simon Danielli chip and chase down the lefthand touch looked set to bring the first try of the match however some desperate defense from England fullback Ben Foden and the bounce of the ball ensured the match remained tryless after 53 minutes.
Scotland still gained a scrum just seven metres out from the play in which England gave away another penalty. Paterson converted from wide to give Scotland a crucial nine point lead.
It only lasted a minute as Wilkinson kicked a long range drop goal to make it 12-6 and the added his second penalty of the match six minutes later to cut Scotland's lead to three points heading into the final 17 minutes.
Possession and territory see-sawed in the closing stages with Scotland needing just a five-pointer to eliminate England and put themselves into a potential clash with New Zealand.
However as history often shows in this fixture, England came away as victors as Ashton got on the end of a one man overlap to score the match winning try.
England 16 (Chris Ashton try; Jonny Wilkinson 2 penalties, drop goal, Toby Flood conversion), Scotland 12 (Dan Parks penalty, drop goal, Chris Paterson 2 penalties). HT: 3-9.
- HERALD ONLINE
