Stags downed at Home

Grangemouth welcomed newly promoted Harris to Glensburgh for the first time in many years. A largely disappointing game saw the home side lose in cold and blustery conditions. Once again Grangemouth showed a number of changes from the team fielded the previous Saturday with Caine McIntyre returning in the centre and Dave Macfarlane moving to the back row. The visitors were much the quicker into their stride and, despite playing into the wind, enjoyed territorial advantage without threatening the home line. However, after 14 minutes a seemingly straightforward Harris back move from their own half was not defended well and the visiting centre went through to score. The try was goaled.
Grangemouth struck back and good work from a tap penalty led to a Harris infringement that allowed Colin MacInally to kick a penalty. Play moved back to the Grangemouth half and yet again a routine Harris backs move led to a missed tackle and another try. Harris had a player sin binned for transgressing at the breakdown. Yet again Grangemouth pressed with Aubrey Mncube showing up well with some strong runs. A further Colin MacInally penalty yielded another three points for the home side. Further pressure brought another long range opportunity on the stroke of half time but that was missed to leave the score 6-12 at the interval.
As the second half started it was clear that the referee had decided that yellow was to be the colour of the day as the card seemed to spend more time being waved in the air than nestled in his pocket. Within a few minutes two Grangemouth players were dispatched to the sin bin. The second half followed the same broad pattern as the first with Harris having the bulk of the play but not threatening the home line. The game changing moment came when stole the ball at the base of a Grangemouth scrum on the edge of the 22 and moved the ball left to score a try in the corner that went unconverted. The home support was incensed by the what appeared to be a combination of offside, a deliberately wheeled scrum and knock on that preceded the try. The score put Harris 17-6 ahead and left the home side with a considerable task.
As the game went into the last quarter Grangemouth began to come to life and exert pressure on the Dundee side. These chances that came were not taken and it looked liked the visiting line would not be breached. Success finally came, however, with about ten minutes left when Steven Groat drove on and broke free. His kick ahead caused confusion in the visiting ranks and Andy Ingles pounced on the loose ball to score. The conversion was missed from wide out.
Grangemouth continued their late efforts to save the day. The yellow card made yet another appearance, this time for a relatively innocuous challenge by the Harris wing forward, though the card may have had more to do with his well demonstrated debating skills. The game finished with a valuable four points for the visitors and a consolation bonus point for Grangemouth.
Grangemouth will look on this game as a lost opportunity. Once again hard work in defence was let down as poor concentration led to tries being conceded to a side that showed little in the way of attacking invention.