Five Star Stags

Week 3 of the league campaign saw the Stags travel to Dundee to take on Morgan. The two teams had had contrasting fortunes in their opening matches with the home side suffering heavy defeats while Grangemouth had collected maximum points. Once again the local side had to make a number of changes with first starts of the season for McNiff and Russell while Rutherford, Scott, Binnie and Stangoe were all promoted from the bench. On another perfect day for rugby the Stags had the advantage of the slope in the first half and opened the scoring after just 2 minutes. From a solid scrum in midfield the ball was transferred to the right with Allan coming into the line from fullback. He brushed aside the first attempted tackle and then took off on a diagonal run to outpace the defence and touchdown for his first try of the season. Fisher was on target with the conversion. Grangemouth continued to dominate territory and possession and try number 2 followed on 12 minutes. Allan, Russell and Stangoe combined to take play close to the Morgan line. The ball was recycled and, with a hint of a dummy, Allan sliced through the home defence for his 2nd try. Fisher added the extras. Try number 3 duly arrived at the end of the first quarter. Hind picked up from the base of the scrum and fed Allan on the blindside. He burst through some poor attempted tackles to complete his hat trick. Fisher converted to make it 3 from 3. The pattern continued a few minutes later when Allan collected his fourth try. McNiff made the initial run to take play to the Morgan 22. Skelton then broke the first line of defence before his pass found Allan who scored out wide. Fisher added the difficult conversion from near the touchline. On the half hour mark the Stags collected try number 5 and again it was scored by Allan. From a scrum on halfway Allan fed Russell who raced 30 metres before being tackled just short of the line.The ball popped back and Allan followed up to score in the corner. This time Fisher was unsuccessful with the kick. The half finished with Stangoe making a good break and then just on the half time whistle Grangemouth added try number 6. Scott kicked through and Russell followed up to tackle the fullback on his own line. Morgan tried a desperate clearing kick which was collected by Fisher. The centre was stopped just on the try line and, despite the hint of a forward pass, Pedyo collected the ball to score in the corner. Fisher added the difficult kick. HT Morgan 0 Stags 40

There was no need for strong words from the coaches at the break this week and after a couple of changes the one way traffic continued at the start of the second period. Russell had another strong run and and when Morgan conceded a penalty in their own 22 Fisher was first to react with a quick tap kick to score near the posts. The centre converted his own score. Grangemouth lost their way a little after this score and this allowed Morgan a spell of pressure inside the visitors 22. Good defence initially prevented a score and then Allan and Pedyo combined to break out of defence towards half way. However a kick from the home side pinned the Stags back on their own line and the clearing kick was charged down to allow one of the Morgan forwards to dive on the loose ball for an unconverted score.The Stags regrouped and finished the match strongly with 4 trys in the closing quarter. Firstly from a 5 metre scrum Hind picked up to feed replacement scrum half Jaworek who dived over under the posts to leave Fisher a simple conversion. Then from a lineout the forwards drove close to the Morgan line. The drive was held up short and Christie picked up to crash over for an unconverted score. In the closing minutes another run from Scott was carried on by Stangoe. When he was tackled Hind followed up to touchdown for a deserved score. Fisher slotted the extras. Just before the end the Stags added try number 11. The forwards demolished a Morgan scrum. Hind and Jaworek combined to feed the unlikely figure of McNab on the wing. He jinked inside his opposite number and when he was finally stopped Fisher was on hand to pick up his second score This time he was unable to add the kick. There was just time for a final Morgan attack and the bizarre sight of Fisher kicking the ball dead thinking it was last play of the game. However the forwards defended the resulting scrum and there was no further scoring. FT Morgan 5 Stags 71

This was, as the scoreline suggests, a comprehensive victory for the Stags. Grangemouth dominated possesson and territory for most of the game. The forwards were on top in the set pieces while McNiff, McNab, Hind and Clark led the way at the breakdown. Behind the scrum Allan responded to his failure to score in the opening games by collecting the first 5 trys of the match while Skelton, Fisher and Stangoe made several breaks while remaining strong in defence. Coach Deacons was delighted with the performance especially as the side had taken much of the work from Tuesdays and Thursdays into the game situation. He was also encouraged by the depth of the squad as the Stags have now used 32 players in the opening 3 matches. This week the Stags take a breather from league rugby as they welcome Caley 1 side Mackie to Glensburgh for a Caledonia Shield game. KO is 3pm