Continued Woes on the Road

For the 5th game in a row the Stags were on the road last Saturday as they travelled to Broughty Ferry to take on Panmure. Once again the local side were forced into wholesale changes with a number of regulars injured or unable to travel. There were starts for Reid, Paterson, Rutherford and McDowall in the pack with Randalls, Christie and Clyne starting in the backs. In addition there were positional changes for Scott, McNab, Sloan and Denny. The pitch was very heavy and Grangemouth had the advantage of the slope in the first half. The Stags dominated territory in the opening quarter but were unable to find the gaps in the home defence. However after almost constant pressure they finally scored after 30 minutes. Forrest took a heel against the head and McDowall picked up. Randalls rumbled on and Panmure gave away another penalty at the breakdown. Denny took the quick tap and the ball was moved wide for McDowall to beat the final defender for the opening score. Denny added the difficult conversion. Having worked so hard to take the lead the Stags almost immediately gave away a soft score. Grangemouth failed to deal with the kick off and this allowed the home side to attack from a scrum deep in the Stags 22. After a series of close range drives by the forwards they finally drove over and the referee awarded the score. The conversion was wide. HT Panmure 5 Stags 7

Grangemouth made a couple of changes at the break and were back on the attack at the start of the half. An attempted clearance kick from behind their line was collected by substitute Dickson but the second row was held up over the line, A few minutes later Pedyo looked to have squeezed in at the corner but lost the ball as he dived for the line. As the half progressed Panmure began to pin the Stags back into their 22 and after a spell of pressure the forwards again crashed over for an unconverted score. Soon after Denny levelled the scores with a penalty. With 10 minutes to go Panmure collected their third try. Again their pack set up play close to the Stags line and when the ball was recycled the home centre had an easy run in for the score. Grangemouth tried to respond but were unable to find a way through the Panmure defence. FT Panmure 15 Stags 10

This was another disappointing result for the local side. They had enough possession and territory in the first half but failed to convert their efforts into points. Once again they made far too many mistakes and this allowed the home side to claim the points. The Stags now have a break of 3 weeks before their next match when, at last (and if the standing water at Glkensburgh finally clears) the Stags will have a home fixture against Blairgowrie on 9th January with a 2pm KO. The coaches will be hoping that a few of the regulars will be back for this match and in the run up to the Midland Bowl final on 30 January when the Stags take on Stirling University at home.