Agonising loss for Stags in Shield.

The Stags were back at home last Saturday as they faced Moray in the 3rd round of the National Shield. The Elgin club have had a very successful season winning the North conference of Caledonia Division 1 and a very tough match was expected. Grangemouth fielded a strong side with Skelton back at stand off, Harvey at centre and Gemmell at fullback. Conditions were good for rugby with Moray having the benefit of the strong breeze in the first half. And it was the visitors who started strongly as they dominated the early possession and territory. However the home defence stood firm and the game remained scoreless in the opening 10 minutes. Gradually the Stags began to have some possession of their own and they opened the scoring after 15 minutes. Harvey had a good carry in midfield and when the ball was recycled Skelton spotted space in the Moray backfield and his kick was chased by Fraser who collected the ball to dive over for the score. The conversion attempt was off target. As the game entered the second quarter Grangemouth created another chance as White made ground before offloading to Kerry. The big second row made ground into the 22 but his final pass was intercepted and the visitors were able to clear their lines. A couple of minutes later the game was tied. Moray broke upfield and beat the cover for an unconverted score. On 33 minutes the visitors were reduced to 14 men after frequent penalties. This allowed the Stags to dominate the rest of the half. Ferguson carried into the 22 before passing to White. The big number 8 was tackled just short of the line but was able to pop the ball to the supporting Gemmell for the try. The conversion attempt from Skelton hit the upright and deflected wide. From the kick off good interplay between backs and forwards made 50 metres before being bundled into touch to end the half.
HT Stags 10 Moray 5.

Grangemouth were back on the attack at the start of the second half. Good kicking by Skelton pinned the visitors in their 22 and when they were penalised at the breakdown the stand off landed the penalty. The Stags continued to attack and added their 3rd try on 52 minutes. White had yet another carry before passing to Harvey. The centre drove into the 22 before linking with Sloan who dummied to his winger to power over for the try. The difficult conversion from Skelton bounced over via the crossbar. Moray regained possession from the kick off and pinned the Stags in their 22. After a couple of drives from tap penalties were stopped they finally forced their way over for a converted score. With the game entering the final 15 minutes Moray made it a one point game with their 3rd try. They broke from a lineout in the home 22 and with the help of a missed tackle were able to crash over for a converted score. Grangemouth were immediately back on the attack. The pack set up a driving maul from a lineout but as it approached the line the maul splintered and they were held up over the line for a goal line dropout. On 70 minutes Moray were given a red card for a stamp on Sloan. Skelton landed the penalty. With just 4 minutes to play Moray spread the ball wide and a missed tackle allowed their winger to break free and run in from 40 metres. Grangemouth regained possession from the kick off and were awarded a penalty 40 metres out. With the clock in the red Skelton’s long range attempt to snatch the victory fell short and the ball was cleared to touch to the delight of the visitors players and supporters. FT Stags 23 Moray 24.

This was a cracking game of rugby between two evenly matched sides. This was probably the best performance of the season by the Stags and they were disappointed to lose after leading until the closing minutes. They will certainly rue a couple of missed opportunities in attack and the missed tackles late in the game. There were strong performances from White and Ferguson in the forwards while Skelton controlled the game well and kicked brilliantly from hand especially in the second half. This week the Stags are back in league action as they face Kinross at home. At present KO is 3pm but this may be brought forward with the Scotland game starting at 2.15pm. Check the website later in the week to check for any change.