Share of spoils at Glensburgh

After the long trip north the previous week the Stags were back at home last Saturday with Strathmore the visitors to Glensburgh.The Forfar based side were sitting in 2nd place in the league and were still in with an outside chance of promotion. Grangemouth made several changes with starts for Shannon, Allan, Harvey, Scott and Mark Christie while Gemmell moved to centre, Dempsey to scrum half and Hind switched to wing forward.On a cold day with frequent blustery showers it was the visitors who had the advantage of the wind in the 1st half. After just 4 minutes Strathie took the lead with a penalty in front of the posts as the Stags were caught offside. Two minutes later they increased their lead. Grangemouth turned the ball over in midfield and good offloading and support play by the visitors resulted in a converted score. The Stags tried to hit back and Allan had a good run up the touchline but the cover defence was able to clear the danger. On 15 minutes Grangemouth tried to clear their lines with a long kick to touch. The ball failed to reach the touchline and was collected by the Strathmore fullback who stepped inside the chasers before feeding his winger to run round for another converted try.As the game entered the second quarter Grangemouth were finally able to string some phases together. They pinned the visitors inside their 22 and after a series of drives by the forwards it was Scott who crashed over for the score. Skelton was unable to add the extras. However straight from the kick off Strathmore increased their lead. The Stags tried a chip kick over the defence deep inside their 22. The ball was charged down allowing an easy run in for a third converted try. From the kick off some poor Grangemouth tackling allowed the visitors to break upfield and once again good support play resulted in a run in under the posts for the bonus point score. With 10 minutes to go in the half another run by Allan saw the winger bundled into touch close to the line. The Stags were able to keep the pressure on as they worked their way through several phases. Skelton kicked through and Gemmell followed up and was awarded the touchdown although many felt the grounding was not clear. This time Skelton added the conversion. HT Stags 12 Strathmore 31

Thre were some strong words from the coach at the break and this had the desired effect as Grangemouth started the second half well. They pinned the visitors inside their 22 and after several phases of play Dempsey kicked through and Hind followed up and was awarded the try. Skelton was on target with the conversion. Grangemouth were on top at this stage with Strathie struggling to clear their lines. The visitors had a clearing kick charged down in the in goal area and from the resulting 5 metre scrum the pack drove up to the line before Harvey picked up to crash over for an unconverted score. On the hour mark the Stags secured a lineout 10 metres from the Strathie line. The forwards drove the maul over the line with McNiff collecting the try. Once again the conversion was missed. With 10 minutes to go Grangemouth finally took the lead. They recycled ball in the visitors 22 and after numerous phases Gemmell was on hand to score under the posts. Skelton slotted the simple concersion. The drama was not over as the visitors finally awoke from their slumbers to exert pressure on the home defence. After several phases of play Strathmore created the space for the winger to score near the corner to tie the score. The conversion was well struck but drifted wide. With the last play of the game Strathie launched a final attack. Their winger was sent clear but was tackled in the corner by Stags skipper Denny. The ball was thrown inside to the supporting player who dived over but was pulled back for a forward pass. FT Stags 36 Strathmore 36

This was a remarkable game of rugby which left both sets of supporters scratching their heads wondering how the match finished all square. The Stags were the happier having fought back from 31-5 down after 30 minutes. Coach Deacons was disappointed by the first half performance with far too many handling errors, poor tackling and wayward kicking. However he was delighted with the fight and effort of his side in the second half. The Grangemouth back row played well especially in the second period with Harvey having several strong runs. The Stags have no game this week with the next match on the 14 April when they travel to take on Aberdeen Wanderers with KO 3pm