Stags progress to next round of the Bowl

With the leagues taking a three week break for the autumn internationals the Stags turned their attention to the first round of the Midland Bowl with Blairgowrie making the journey to Glensburgh last Saturday. Grangemouth made five changes from the Harris match with starts for Curran and Ward and for three of last years under 18s, Mcnab, Pedyo and Innes. The home side dominated from the start and opened the scoring after 4 minutes. The forwards secured a lineout on the 10 metre line and developed a driving maul. As the maul began to splinter Curran broke free and raced 30 metres to outpace the cover and score in the corner. Blairgowrie then missed a couple of difficult penalty kicks at goal as the Stags conceded too many penalties at the breakdown. However it was the home side that increased their lead after 14 minutes. Once again the forwards drove a clean lineout take before releasing the ball to the backs. Pedyo received an inside pass to break the line and although he was stopped short of the line the loose ball was hacked on by Dempsey who followed up to score under the posts. Johnstone added the easy conversion. The visitors then did open their account with a simple penalty before Grangemouth scored their third try on 25 minutes. The Stags were unable to score from a number of 5 metre scrums. The visitors had the chance to clear their lines but the attempted clearance kick from the in goal area looped up into the air and was collected by McPherson for the easiest try of the season. The kick was unsuccessful. Just on half time Blairgowrie added their second penalty. Half time 17 – 6.

Grangemouth continued to dominate at the start of the second half but failed to turn pressure and possession into points. Innes had a good run and passed to Ward who somehow managed to drop the ball in the act of scoring. Innes then took over the kicking duties and landed a penalty. On the hour mark the Stags did manage to string some passes together for their fourth try. From a lineout just outside the visitors 22 good running and hands in the backs saw Pedyo beat his man to score with Innes on target with the conversion. Blairgowrie then added their third penalty before the Stags finally turned pressure into points with three scores in the closing 10 minutes. Substitute Forbes had a good run and was rewarded soon after with a try. Curran made the initial break but when he was tackled just short of the line the replacement hooker was on hand to score under the posts. Innes added the extra 2 points. From the kick off good linking play between the forwards and the backs took play up to the visitors 22 and a kick to the corner saw David McFarlane follow up to slide over for the score. With the last play of the game Dempsey burst through some tired attempted tackles to score under the posts to leave Innes the simple conversion. Final score 46 – 9.

This was a very comfortable win for the home side and they now face Glenrothes away in the next round in 4 weeks time. The players know they will have to cut down on needless penalties and costly handling errors for the more difficult matches ahead. There are no planned games in the next fortnight with the next game on the 1st December against Stirling University away with a 2pm KO