New Year First Win

After their poor performances on the road before Christmas the Stags were finally back at home last Saturday as Blairgowrie made the trip to Glensburgh. The local side were also boosted by the return of several players with Stirling, Binnie and Shaw back in the forwards and Hind returning to action for the first time since his injury in the opening game of the season. There were also starts for Moreno and Chisholm and a debut for Fisher at stand off. Conditions were difficult for both teams with a heavy pitch and frequent showers. The visitors made the better start to the game. They missed a long range penalty after just 2 minutes and were held up over the line after a drive from a 5 metre scrum a few minutes later. Gradually the home side worked their way into the game. Binnie had a good run but the Stags were unable to break down the visitors defence in the opening quarter. The deadlock was finally broken on 22 minutes. Grangemouth took a quick tap penalty on the Blair 22 and when the ball was moved wide Denny crashed over for the opening try. The centre was short with the conversion. Grangemouth lost the ball from the kick off and Blairgowrie were only stopped by a good tackle by Christie. Soon after the visitors had an even better chance to score as they created a clear overlap. Fortunately for the home side the ball was dropped and the chance was lost. The Stags increased their lead on the half hour mark. From a scrum on the 22 the backs worked a move and Denny was put through the gap. When he was tackled by the fullback he found Stangoe on his shoulder and his fellow centre slid over for try number 2. Once again the conversion was wide. Just on half time the Stags missed touch and the visitors moved the ball wide to create a gap for their centre to score. The conversion was successful. HT Stags 10 Blair 7

The Stags changed their strips at half time and this seemed to have the desired effect as the home side dominated the second period. Fisher slotted a penalty on 42 minutes and try number 3 followed soon after. A tap penalty saw the ball moved along the line and Pedyo raced round the cover to score his first try. Fisher slotted the difficult conversion. Grangemouth were straight back on the attack and Randalls was just denied by the cover following a kick and chase to the corner. However from the scrum 5 Fisher delayed the pass perfectly to allow Denny to slice through the defence and score under the posts. Fisher added the extra points. The one way traffic continued as another well timed pass saw Stangoe crash through to collect his second score. Fisher again added the kick. On the hour mark a Gibson run took play deep into the visitors 22 and when the ball was recycled Curran was on hand to drive over from close range. Fisher again added the conversion. With 10 minutes to go the Stags completed the scoring. Another run by Denny took play up to the Blair 22 and when the ball was moved wide Pedyo again rounded the cover to score. Fisher maintained his 100% kicking record with the conversion. FT Stags 48 Blairgowrie 7

This was a much improved performance from the Stags. The forwards provided a solid platform and the backs ran strongly and handled well in difficult conditions. This week the 1sts travel to St Andrews to take on Madras while the 2nds are at home against Fife Southern. Both games have a 2pm KO.