Grangemouth record a narrow win over Glenrothes

Grangemouth travelled over the Forth with high hopes of victory after their recent win over Glenrothes in the Bowl, just 2 weeks ago. The absence of a few of the players from that match was a concern but the Stags are unbeaten in 2010 and were intent on securing their position higher up the league.

The match was played in great rugby conditions, dry with a clear sky and almost no wind. However, the Stags were clearly “still on the bus” at kick off and conceded a converted try after only 10 minutes. The home scrum half sprinted straight past a ruck, brushed aside two weak tackles, drew the full back and passed to a supporting player for a simple try, all from at least 40 metres out. The visitors continued to drift off tackles and only a few minutes later Graeme McNiff was caught offside at a ruck and the penalty was converted to give the home team a 10 point advantage.

The visitors slowly began to focus on the task at hand and a couple of good handling moves from the backs threatened scores but the home defence held. On 20 minutes the Stags scored a well worked try when Blair Skipper made a neat break, passed to Bubba Hayes whose strength broke a few tackles followed by an offload to the supporting Skipper for a try under the posts which was converted. Five minutes later the home stand-off was yellow carded for a late tackle and the Stags upped the pressure. From the next line out Glenrothes were penalised for a high tackle inside their 22 metres and Skipper took a quick tap penalty to put Chappy in under the posts for a second converted try and a 14-10 lead. The visitors continue the pressure and a strong drive by No 8 McNiff was finally halted but a quick recycled ball saw Skipper again slip a lovely pass to Bubba for a try near the posts which was converted. This took the half time score to 21-10 to Grangemouth and with three tries already scored, their supporters had hopes of a win with a four try bonus point.

Clearly, the home side thought otherwise and started the 2nd half with continuous pressure on the Stags try line. Only 5 minutes of the half had gone and a 5 metre scrum was awarded. A quick heel and pass to their No 10 saw him beat a couple of tacklers for a try under the posts which was converted. This cut the Stags lead to only 5 points but they regained some territory and the home forwards were offside at a ruck. Blair Skipper kicked the penalty to give the visitors a 24-17 lead. Glenrothes simply upped their pressure and on 15 minutes their forwards were again camped inside the Grangemouth 22. Again the No 10 took a quick pass and broke tackles to score between the posts in a replica move. Amazingly, the simple conversion was missed leaving Grangemouth 24-22 ahead. The next 25 minutes saw some mixed play with both teams building up pressure but ill-discipline resulting in penalties from the referee. His frustration at constant “talking back” by players questioning his decisions resulted in the visitors only other scoring chance when he marched the home team back 30 metres for back chat. The penalty was just at Skipper’s limit and dropped short. However, the Stags held out in a poor 2nd half to take a victory that lifted them to 5th in the league and opened up a gap on the main relegation strugglers.

Next week Grangemouth play Strathmore in a double header as it has been agreed to play both our league and Bowl fixture together. The match at Forfar will kick off at 2.30 pm.