Snatching a Draw from the Jaws of Defeat

The Stags were back in league action last Saturday as Aberdeen Wanderers made the trip south to Glensburgh. Grangemouth made a total of 10 changes to their starting lineup (3 positional) with Black, Scott, McNiff and McNab all back in the team while McFarlane, Ward and Stangoe all made their first starts of the season. Once again the Stags made a slow start and it was the visitors who opened the scoring after just 5 minutes. A missed tackle in the centre allowed the Wanderers backs through the initial defence and simple hands created the space for the winger to score an unconverted try in the corner. Aberdeen were quickly back on the attack and were rewarded with a penalty a few minutes later to increase their lead. On 10 minutes the Stags tried to hit back and Stangoe was unlucky not to score. He burst through the defence but was tackled and lost the ball on the line. Aberdeen launched a counter attack from their line and only a last gasp tackle prevented a score at the other end. Grangemouth continued to put themselves under pressure with some basic errors. Firstly a missed kick to touch from a penalty saw the visitors back on the attack. Then another loose kick and missed tackle resulted in Aberdeen running the ball back to round the cover and score under the posts. As the game entered the second quarter the Stags finally had some reward for their efforts. They pinned the visitors back in their 22 and after Allan was tackled short of the line the ball was recycled for Ward to pick up and use his bulk to crash over from short range. Skelton was unable to add the extras. Soon after Grangemouth conceded another soft try. They turned the ball over in midfield giving Wanderers possession inside the home 22. After several phases of play the visitors found a gap in the blindside defence for another converted score. With half time approaching Grangemouth looked to reduce the deficit. Good handling seemed to have put Gemmell in at the corner but once again a last gasp tackle dislodged the ball as he tried to ground the ball. However the fullback was not to be denied and a few minutes later Allan and Skelton combined to pass to Gemmell for the score. This time Skelton was on target with the kick. Just on half time the visitors had a great chance to score but knocked on when a try looked certain. HT Stags 12 Aberdeen 22.

Grangemouth made a good start to the second period as the visitors failed to clear their lines from the kick off. The early pressure paid off when a loose clearance kick was fielded on the left wing by Dempsey. His long pass found Shannon in the middle of the park and his early pass released Allan to outpace the cover and score out wide. Once again the conversion was unsuccessful. On the hour mark the Stags tied the scores as they added the bonus point try. The forwards drove over the line but the ball was held up. From the resulting scrum the pack drove Aberdeen back over their line with Hind collecting the touchdown. Skelton was unlucky to see his conversion attempt rebound from the post. The closing 20 minutes saw chances for both teams. Aberdeen squandered territory as they twice kicked the ball dead when trying to kick for the corner. Then in the closing 10 minutes the Stags laid siege to the Wanderers 22. However a combination of good defence by the visitors and a lack of composure and handling errors by the home side prevented further scores. FT Stags 22 Aberdeen 22.

There were mixed emotions for both teams at the final whistle. Aberdeen were disappointed to have let slip a 22-5 lead and to fail to score in the second period. The Stags were unhappy with their errors in the first half and their failure to snatch the victory at the death. This week the Stags are back on the road as they travel to take on Glenrothes with an early KO of 2pm