Evening Duties Bring Great rewards

The Stags were back in league action last Friday evening as they travelled to Kinross in a re-arranged fixture. Grangemouth fielded a strong side with Kerry in the second row, Sloan and Gibson at wing forward and Denny and Stangoe in the centre. The pitch was in good condition and the Stags had the advantage of the wind in the first half. With the opening play Stangoe and Skelton combined to take play into the home 22. However the Stags were unable to secure the opening lineouts and the home side were able to survive the initial pressure. On 6 minutes the Grangemouth pack took a scrum against the head and after a couple of drives by the forwards Scott burst through the defence to score near the posts. Skelton slotted the conversion. The Stags continued to dominate possession and territory but were unable to break down the home defence until the start of the second quarter. Once again the score came from a scrum on the Kinross 22. This time Hind picked up and slipped the ball back inside for Gibson to crash over. Skelton added the extras. Grangemouth continued to press and a few minutes later good handling in the backs released Allan to score in the corner. Skelton added the difficult kick from close to the touchline. A few minutes later after a burst from Stangoe the move was carried on by Sloan and Kerry with Denny looping round to collect the scoring pass in the corner. This time the conversion was wide. Just on half time after a further spell of pressure Grangemouth messed up a huge overlap. From the resulting scrum the pack drove the Kinross 8 back over their line and as the ball squirted out the back Forsyth was first to react and dive on the loose ball for the try. Skelton was wide with the kick. HT Kinross 0 Stags 31

The pattern of play continued in the second half with Grangemouth dominating the game. On 47 minutes Denny took a quick tap penalty and drove deep into the home 22. The ball was recycled for Kerry to offload to the supporting Hind to run in under the posts. Skelton added the conversion. Soon after another sweeping move from deep was again finished off from short range by Hind for an unconverted score. As the game entered the final quarter Jamieson and McNab worked a short lineout move to take play close to the line. The ball was moved wide and a long pass from Sloan released Parsons to run in at the corner. Skelton was unable to add the conversion. The one way traffic continued and try number 9 followed soon after. The home side conceded penalties on their 10 metre line and after a couple of tap kicks McNiff was in support to collect the pass and run in near the posts. Skelton added the extras. Grangemouth wrapped things up with 5 minutes to go. The move started with a tap penalty in their own half and after going through several pairs of hands Gemmell collected the final pass to run in from the 22. The conversion was wide. FT Kinross 0 Grangemouth 60.

As the scoreline suggests this was a very comfortable victory for the Stags. The home side had little possession in attack but to their credit they defended well throughout. Grangemouth still have to work on their lineouts and the frequent penalties at the breakdown. Kerry, Sloan and Hind carried well in the forwards while Stangoe and Denny looked dangerous with ball in hand. This week the Stags travel to take on Crieff in the final match of the year. KO is 2pm.