Stags Hit 50

The Stags were again at home last Saturday with Panmure the visitors to Glensburgh. The Broughty Ferry side had struggled over the last few years but had recruited a number of new players over the summer. With Hind still on the injured list there was one change in the pack with Mark Christie replacing the unavailable Stirling while in the backs Sloan and Ross Christie were on the wings with Myles switching to fullback. The visitors started well and had much of the early possession without looking threatening. On 5 minutes Grangemouth broke up field and kicked deep into the Panmure 22. Ross Christie followed up to put the fullback under pressure and the ball was turned over close to the line. Quick hands saw Jamieson pop the ball to Denny and the centre went over under the posts for the opening score. He duly added the simple conversion. On 11 minutes he collected his second try. The Stags won a scrum 5 metres from the Panmure line. Scott made the initial charge and when the ball came back this time Binnie passed to Denny for the score. The conversion was wide. Try number 3 followed soon after. Myles kicked downfield and the Panmure fullback was tackled close to his own line. Grangemouth won the ball at the breakdown and Myles passed to Allan for his first try. Denny slotted home the conversion. Play became too loose at this point and this allowed Panmure a period of possession and territory. However their efforts were unrewarded and Grangemouth collected the bonus point score on the half hour mark. Binnie turned the ball over in midfield and the ball was moved along the backline. Ross Christie was tackled just short but the ball was won back by the Stags and Allan picked up to scamper over./ Denny again added the conversion. HT Stags 26 Panmure 0

Grangemouth made a slow start to the second half but increased their lead on 50 minutes. Scott burst through into the 22 on a flat pass. He switched with Jamieson and when the big prop was tackled 5 metres out Mark Christie collected the pass to slide over under the posts. Denny kicked the extra 2 points. Play became more disjointed as Grangemouth started to use their replacements and this allowed the visitors to mount some pressure. Ross Christie saved a score with an excellent cover tackle but from the resultant scrum Panmure drove their forwards over for a converted score. Grangemouth finished the game strongly. On 70 minutes after a series of attacks close to the Panmure line the Stags were awarded a penalty. Gibson angled his run to crash over near the corner. Again Denny kicked the conversion. A few minutes later Allan received the ball on halfway from another tap penalty and raced up the touchline to beat the cover and run round under the posts for his 3rd try. Denny made it 6 kicks from 7. Some poor tackling by the Stags allowed Panmure to collect a consolation score. With the final play Grangemouth attacked again and Gibson was on hand to collect the scoring pass. Denny completed the scoring with the conversion. FT Stags 54 Panmure 14.

This was a patchy performance from the Stags. At times there were good passages of play with forwards and backs combining well. However far too often they spilled the ball or took the wrong options. Next week the Stags are due to play Montrose at Glensburgh in the first round of the Midland Bowl. KO is 3pm