Stags Net Sharks

The leagues continued last Saturday with Fife Southern making the short trip to Glensburgh from Rosyth for week 12 of the campaign. The conditions were difficult with a heavy park and the cold wind and frequent showers would make handling tricky for both sides. The Stags were without McInally and Stirling in the forwards with Norval and Craig starting the game. Grangemouth played into the wind in the first half and were quickly on the attack. After 5 minutes the forwards drove a lineout maul from 5 metres but the ball was knocked on. However the opening try was only delayed a few minutes. Fife cleared downfield and Parsons collected the kick and took the ball back into the visitors half. The ball was recycled quickly and moved out to the wing where Allan raced into the 22 before feeding back inside to Craig who crashed over for an unconverted score. Fife continued to use the wind to gain territory and were successful with a penalty after 14 minutes to narrow the gap to 2 points. After 20 minutes the Stags added try number two. This time the forwards controlled the drive from the lineout and hooker Pete Brough dived over for the score. Again the kick was missed. Fife hit back again and narrowed the lead by kicking a second penalty. The Stags increased their lead before half time with their third try. Another clearing kick was picked up by Parsons and he linked with Risk. The winger made 20 metres before being tackled and good passing saw Parsons score under the posts to leave Sangster the easy conversion. Just on half time Fife missed a penalty to leave the half time score 17 – 6

With the wind at their backs Grangemouth started strongly in the second half and Dempsey was forced into touch in the corner. Soon after a half break by Sangster should have resulted in a score but the pass was dropped. Both sides were making numerous handling errors as the play became bogged down in midfield. The home support was becoming nervous as the Stags were still to secure the all important bonus point try. However try number four did arrive on the hour mark. Good pressure from a lineout close to the Fife line saw Neill charge down the attempted kick to touch and dive on the ball for the score. Sangster added the conversion. With 10 minutes left Grangemouth wrapped up the game with their fifth try. Once again the forwards drove from a lineout and after being held up a couple of times it was McNiff who managed to touch down for the score with Sangster adding the conversion. To their credit Fife hit back and the last 10 minutes was played in the Stags 22. However the visitors were unable to score as the Stags defence held firm. Final score 31 – 6.
This was a hard fought victory in difficult conditions for the Stags. Some of the handling was poor at times but once again the defence was solid. Next week Grangemouth make the long trip north to take on RAF Lossiemouth in the final of the Caledonia Regional Bowl. Kick off is 1.30. Check the website for the bus departure time. All supporters are reminded to have photo ID to enter the base.