Stags Through to Next Round of Shield

The Stags headed north last Saturday to face RAF Lossiemouth in Round 2 of the National Shield. Grangemouth made 5 changes from the previous round with Kerry returning to the pack, Gemmell switching to stand off, Fraser and Rooney at centre and Balfour at fullback. The Stags played into the breeze in the first half and made a strong start. They returned a long clearance kick with good handling and support play taking them into the home 22. After a series of drives close to the line Rooney was tackled just short and quick ball saw Gemmell feed Christie to squeeze over in the corner for an unconverted score. Johnston received a nasty facial laceration and had to be replaced by Quinn in the build up to the score. The lead was short lived as soon after the home side were awarded a penalty on the Stags 22. They took a quick tap kick and their prop shrugged off some poor attempted tackles to score under the sticks. The conversion was successful. As the game entered the second quarter quarter the Stags were back in the lead. Ferguson, Siddiq and Watson combined to take play into the Lossiemouth 22. From a 5 metre lineout the pack secured the ball and drove to the line with Kerry getting the touchdown. Once again the conversion was off target. From the kick off Quinn and Fraser made good ground but the move broke down and the home side were able to clear the ball upfield. Lossiemouth continued to look dangerous with ball in hand and the Stags were pinned back in their 22. A clever kick through saw the home centre win the foot race for the second converted score. Grangemouth tried to respond and another good move was halted by a knock on by a home player which was missed by the referee. The resultant breakout was only halted by a last gasp tackle by the Stags before a penalty attempt from the home team was wide of the mark. The closing minutes of the half saw Grangemouth back on the attack. A good run from Ferguson took play into the 22. Lossiemouth gave away several penalties and were on a team warning as the Stags camped on the home line. With the last play of the half Grangemouth won another lineout and drove to the line. Watson seemed to be over the line but the ball was dropped and the chance was lost. HT Lossiemouth 14 Stags 10.

Grangemouth made a terrible start to the second half. They missed touch from a penalty and a swift counter attack saw the home side score an unconverted try in the corner. Worse was to follow a few minutes later when another counter attack from deep was helped by some woeful covering and tackling by the Stags as Lossiemouth romped in from 70 metres to score a converted try under the posts. Grangemouth responded and from a 5 metre scrum White picked up and carried a couple of defenders with him for a fine score. This time Wieczorek added the extras. A few minutes later Gemmell had a good run up the touchline before being hauled down on the 22. The hosts were penalised at the breakdown and the ball was kicked into the corner. The pack secured the lineout and this time Watson made sure he was in control of the ball as he drove over the line. Wieczorek was again successful with the conversion. Having reduced the deficit to just 2 points and seemingly having all the momentum the Stags once again conceded a soft score with some poor tackling allowing the home side to run in under the sticks. The home side were then reduced to 14 after a yellow card for a late hit on skipper Wieczorek forced the scrum half to leave the field. In a frantic final 10 minutes Gemmell was wide with a penalty attempt. Then Gardiner somehow failed to score with the try line beckoning. He galloped through a gap and sold a dummy to the fullback before tripping himself up just short of the line. A couple of minutes later Clark was over the line but was held up. Just when it looked like the home side would hold out further pressure on the line resulted in Ward diving over from close range. Gemmell added the conversion. With just 3 minutes to play the Stags again attacked with the home side conceding numerous penalties. With the clock on 80 minutes Grangemouth were awarded a very kickable penalty to win the game. Instead they took a quick tap and were stopped on the line. The ball was recycled and another drive for the line was held up. Finally under another penalty advantage the ball was moved wider and Watson put in a cross field kick for Christie to catch and touchdown for the winning score. FT RAF Lossiemouth 33 Stags 36

What a game. The Stags snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat. The local side shouldn’t have had to rely on a last gasp try to win. They had plenty of possession and territory but failed to capitalise on this with some poor game management, basic errors and woeful tackling. They were certainly not helped by a lengthy injury list and the coaches will be hoping most will recover before the next game. The Stags will now play Moray in Round 3 at Grangemouth on 3 March with a 3pm KO.