Magnificent Seven – But Only Just

The Stags travelled to Dundee on Saturday to play 3rd placed Harris FP in league action. The Port side welcomed back Stephen Neil and Captain Colin McInally but were without McFarlane, Allan and Campbell.

On a surprisingly firm pitch and dry conditions, if a little windy, the Stags played up the considerable Elliot Road slope in the 1st half. Straight from kick off the Stags defence was tested and held firm which was to prove a feature of this match.

On 8 minutes Grangemouth broke the deadlock with a well struck Sangster penalty from 30m penalty after Harris were deemed to have not released the tackled man. The game then ebbed and flowed with Harris making use of the boot to regularly clear their lines while the Stags were too often guilty of playing high risk rugby leading to an unusual amount of turnover ball.

On the stroke of half time, Harris took advantage of a spilled ball to kick into the corner and from the resultant lineout, only a fantastic Daglish tackle in the midfield prevented his opposite man from scoring.

Half Time 0 – 3

The 2nd half was very much a Grangemouth affair as they laid siege on the Harris 22 with coach Sangster varying plays and the pack beginning to make inroads to the Harris defence but again that all important last pass was not given or misguided, relieving the pressure. The Stags did have three opportunities to score with Sangster missing two penalties and shaving the uprights with a drop goal attempt.

On 62 minutes, the Stags got the breakthrough they deserved. The forwards created the platform with some hard yards before releasing the backs, Parsons making the break and offloading to Daglish who broke two tackles to run in near the posts, Sangster missing the extras to give the stags a much needed 8 point advantage.

Almost from kick off, a mix up in midfield was adjudged to be crossing and fortunately the resultant penalty drifted wide. Harris had come into the game and were desperately unlucky not to score from a driven lineout on 5m and when spun wide their centre was chopped by Stangoe on the line with Gowdy on hand to hold the ball up, although the attacker did then ground the ball and was rightly judged to have used a double movement. That was to be Harrris’ last chance and the Port side took advantage of a spilled ball with Dempsey kicking long and tackling his man into touch on the 22.

After a few phases the ball came to James Craig, who showed his footballing skills to chip through and chase the ball leading to a Stags lineout on the 5m line. The stage was set and from the lineout, a series of drives led to the inevitable Jamieson try, conversion missed.

That was to be the last play of the match and it was a much relieved Grangemouth team who left the field with 7 wins from 7 starts in the league. This was a physically tough match, one which had to be won through sheer determination rather than technical brilliance.

The result keeps the Stags at the top of the league however the students from St Andrews are breathing down their necks having collected 6 bonus points from 7 outings.

This week the Stags are at home in cup action versus Kinross RFC with a 3pm kick off.