Stags End Year on High

The Stags wee back on the road last Saturday as they travelled to Crieff for their last match of 2016. Granemouth made 3 changes to the starting lineup from the victory at Kinross with Keighan, McNab and McNiff all returning to the pack.Conditions were good and the Stags made a great start and opened the scoring after just 2 minutes. Good handling in the backs released Parsons and the winger squeezed in at the corner for an unconverted score.Grangemouth continued to dominate possession but were let down by frequent penalties and handling errors. Gradually the home side came more into the game and were rewarded with a penalty on 16 minutes. Straight from the restart Hind reclaimed possession and after a series of drives by the forwards it was left to Jamieson to bulldoze over from his customary 1 metre distance. Skelton was on target with the conversion. As the game entered the second quarter the referee finally lost patience with the Stags and McNab was given a team yellow card after a deliberate knock on. Two minutes later Crieff were back in the game as they scored their opening try. The home side seemed to knock on in their 22 but the referee waived play on. They attacked from deep with good hands and support play and finally created an overlap for an easy run in for a converted score. The Stags hit back and increased their lead on 27 minutes. They pinned Crieff inside their 22 and the ball was moved wide for Allan to score in the corner. Once again the conversion attempt was wide. With half time approaching Crieff kicked their second penalty before Grangemouth grabbed the all important bonus point score. The pack drove the home side back at a series of 5 metre scrums. Crieff gave away a number of penalties and finally with a pushover try likely the referee awarded a penalty try. Skelton slotted the simple conversion. HT Crieff 13 Stags 24.

Grangemouth dominated the opening spell of the second half. Binnie had a run up the touchline and soon after good interplay between Jamieson and Binnie created the opening for the supporting Hind to score in the corner. On 55 minutes the Stags scored try number 6. The ball was moved wide with Gemmell in the line. He fed Allan and the winger stepped round his man and scored in the corner. The closing quarter was more disjointed. Jamieson was given a yellow card as the home side attacked and with 10 minutes to go they collected their second try after a break from deep. FT Crieff 18 Stags 34

This was a below par performance by the Stags. They gave away a host of penalties and made too many handling errors. However the win keeps the local side at the top of the league with 6 games to go in the New Year. The next league game is on 14 January when the Stags are at home against Panmure.