Mistakes Add Up for Stags

Grangemouth were back at home last Saturday as league leaders Harris made the trip to Glensburgh. The Stags again were forced into changes with Howie, Jamieson and Hunter starting in the pack, Jardine back from injury on the wing and debuts for Gemmell and Kinnear. After the big freeze the previous week and all the recent rain the pitch was very heavy underfoot. The home side kicked off and were quickly on the attack. A chip ahead from Gemmell in the opening couple of minutes resulted in some scrambling defence on their own line by the visitors as they cleared the danger. Grangemouth continued to press in the opening stages but were unable to break down the Harris defence and it was indeed the visitors who opened the scoring on 12 minutes. They ran a tap penalty close to the Stags line but were held up. The ball was recycled and a pop pass saw one of the forwards crash over. The conversion was on target. Grangemouth were soon back on the attack and had a period of pressure around the visitors 22. Once again the pressure came to nothing as the defence held firm and on 25 minutes Harris increased their lead. The Stags dropped the ball in the Harris 22 and a sweeping move saw the visitors race up field and the number 8 was on hand to collect the scoring pass and run in under the posts. Grangemouth also lost Binnie and Denny to injury at this point. The home side did reduce the lead with a penalty from Fisher on the half hour mark. A few minutes later Fisher was short with another penalty attempt and the Harris scrum half started a counter attack from under his posts. The move was halted on the Harris 10 metre line and Grangemouth reclaimed the ball. Unfortunately the ball was again dropped and Harris moved the ball wide for their winger to beat the cover and run in under the posts. Just on half time another mistake by the home side was punished by the visitors as they collected the bonus point try with another run in from long range as the Stags again dropped the ball.
HT Stags 3 Harris 28

The second half started in a similar vein as Harris added 2 early trys. Firstly a couple of missed tackles allowed an easy run in and then another turnover inside the home 22 resulted in a score out wide. Neither try was converted. Finally the Stags did manage to hold on to the ball and after a spell of pressure on the Harris line, Scott made the initial break before passing inside to the supporting Hind for the score. Fisher was on target with the conversion. However the mistakes continued and Harris increased their lead as Grangemouth failed to clear their lines allowing an easy pick up and score. The closing quarter saw Harris lose players to the bin but the Stags were unable to take advantage to score. In the final few minutes another turnover in midfield was collected by the visitors. A chip ahead was regained by the Harris scrum half and an easy offload saw the winger canter in at the corner. FT Stags 10 Harris 50

This was a very disappointing result for the home side. They made far too many mistakes and turned the ball over far too easily. The visitors dominated the breakdown and used their pace out wide to counter attack from deep. The Stags have much work to do before the final of the Midland Bowl this Saturday when they take on Stirling University at Glensburgh with a 1.30pm KO