Poor Stags Ejected From Midlands Bowl

The Stags were back in cup action last Saturday with Stirling University the visitors to Glensburgh for the final of the Midland Bowl. The heavy rain of the previous week had left the match doubtful but a determined effort by a number of club members saw the pitch just about playable. Grangemouth fielded a strong side and had the advantage of the breeze in the first half. However in the first few minutes the Stags gave away a number of penalties and this allowed the students to clear up field. On 5 minutes the visitors took the lead with a penalty in front of the posts as the Stags were caught offside. As the half progressed Stirling continued to look dangerous with ball in hand while the Stags struggled to find any continuity in the difficult conditions. Hind had a fine break from deep but was unable to find his support and the attack came to nothing. As half time approached Stirling were wide with a difficult penalty attempt. HT Stags 0 Stirling 3

The second half started badly for the home side as they knocked on at the kick off and this allowed the students to exert some pressure for the opening 5 minutes of the half. The Stags defence held firm and they cleared up field. The Grangemouth scrum had been on top throughout and from a scrum inside the Stirling 22 another huge drive saw the students scrum half under pressure. Hind secured the turnover and after a couple of drives close to the line the ball was recycled and a pop pass to Jamieson saw the big prop angle his run to crash over from short range. Fisher was on target with the difficult conversion. From the kick off Kinnear made a 40 metre break but again the move came to nothing after a knock on in the Stirling 22. This period of pressure should have settled the home side but again they gave away silly penalties and were marched back a couple of times for talking back to the referee. This allowed the students to gain territory and they regained the lead on 63 minutes. They worked a backs move on the Stags 22 and despite the hint of crossing the fullback ran round to score an unconverted try. Five minutes later Grangemouth conceded another penalty just outside their 22 and this time the kick was successful. In an increasingly frantic closing 10 minutes Christie was given a red card for punching and despite having pressure on the Stirling line the home side were unable to cross for the winning score. Finally another penalty allowed the students to kick for touch and celebrate a fine victory. FT Stags 7 Stirling University 11

This was a very disappointing result for the home side. The discipline was poor throughout as they gave away a host of penalties especially at the breakdown. The students played a much smarter game in the conditions and deserved their victory. A huge thanks to all the club members especially Jim Forsyth, Ben Kerry, Eddie Graham, Mark Christie and Campbell Cunningham who helped out on Saturday morning to allow the game to go ahead. This Saturday the Stags are back in league action as they face Kirkcaldy 2nds at home with KO 12 noon.