Topsy Turvey Win for Stags

Alloa were the visitors to Glensburgh last Saturday for week 2 of the league campaign. The sides had contrasting fortunes in their opening fixtures with the Wee County side recording a bonus point home victory while the Stags were looking to bounce back from their loss at Strathmore. Grangemouth made a couple of changes with Kerry back in the second row and Shannon replacing the injured Denny at centre. On another good day for rugby the opening exchanges were fairly even as both sides showed their willingness to run the ball. On 10 minutes the visitors were wide with a penalty attempt but the opening score followed a couple of minutes later. Alloa attacked down their left flank before a wide pass allowed the visitors centre to slice through the home defence and run in unchallenged under the posts. The Stags hit back straight from the kick off. A break from Gemmell took play into the visitors 22. Alloa were penalised at the breakdown and after a quick tap penalty by Dempsey the ball was passed to Harvey for the big number 8 to crash over from short range. Skelton added the extras to level the scores. Grangemouth promptly added their second score. Alloa gave away a penalty on half way. Dempsey again took the quick tap and raced 30 metres before passing to Allan to run in under the posts. Skelton slotted the simple conversion. A fine run by McNiff almost brought about another score but an Alloa hand prevented the pass reaching the supporting player and the chance was lost. The Grangemouth pack were well on top at the scrums and another huge shunt demolished the visitors set piece. The loose ball was collected by Allan and the winger scampered over for his second score. Once again Skelton was on target with the conversion. On 30 minutes the Stags collected the bonus point score. From a scrum on the Alloa 22 Dempsey darted blind and his pop pass found Allan who cantered round the cover to complete his hat trick. Skelton maintained his 100% record with the simple kick. Having dominated the game and secured the bonus point Grangemouth seemed to fall asleep for the closing 5 minutes of the half. First a dropped ball and missed tackle allowed Alloa to score under the posts and then a quick tap penalty by the visitors created a huge overlap for the winger to score in the corner. Half time Stags 28 Alloa 19.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half was fairly even with neither side creating any clear chances. On 55 minutes Alloa won a lineout on their 22. However some loose passes had their defence in all sorts of trouble and it was McNiff who pounced on the loose ball to drive over for the score. Once again Skelton was successful with the kick. On the hour mark the Stags extended their lead. The forwards secured a lineout and drove 20 metres upfield. When the ball was switched to the blindside Ross Christie collected the scoring pass to dive over in the corner. Skelton landed the difficult conversion. Soon after a burst from a lineout took play into the Alloa 22. The ball was recycled and Dempsey was on hand to dart over.Skelton made it 7 from 7. The closing 10 minutes saw the Stags switch off and concede 3 further scores. First a missed tackle saw the centre carve through the defence to score and then an intercept by the same player saw him run in from 40 metres. A further try came from a burst up the touchline and suddenly the lead was reduced to just 11 points. However the Stags had the final say when Harvey and Dempsey combined from a scrum. The ball was released to Allan who rounded his man before outpacing the cover to run round under the posts. Skelton maintained his perfect kicking performance with the conversion. FT Stags 56 Alloa 38.

There were mixed emotions from the Stags at the final whistle. While they were obviously delighted with 50+ points and a bonus point win they were disappointed by the defensive lapses which allowed an under strength Alloa side to score so many points. The scrum was on top throughout and the lineout was much more secure than in previous games. Grangemouth still need to cut out some of the handling errors and tighten up the defence for the upcoming matches. This week the Stags make the trip north to take on Ellon with KO 3pm.