Stags go down in Dundee

The Stags travelled to Dundee in good spirits after a pre-season with high training numbers but unfortunately made the return journey devoid of even a losing bonus point.
Playing on Harris’s decidedly small and uneven pitch, Grangemouth had a good opening 5 minutes with early pressure in the home 22 metres zone. On 5 minutes this pressure resulted in a ruck on the Harris try line but one of their players simply went offside to frustrate any try scoring chance. Although clearly a “professional” foul the referee simply awarded the penalty but did not get out his yellow card presumably as the match was only minutes old. Colin McInally knocked over the penalty to give Grangemouth an early 3-0 lead.
The next 5 minutes saw good play from Harris especially in off-loading to supporting runners and recycling ruck ball. They nearly scored in one corner but the winger was bundled into touch. Continued pressure saw another try opportunity in the other corner before a well worked front move at a lineout saw the Harris hooker score in the corner for an unconverted try. At 5-3 down the visitors began to use their fast running backs although the narrow pitch made defence easier for Harris. At 25 minutes a good break by Gary Dempsey took play deep into the home 22 metres area and a fast recycle and quick hands saw Mike Gowdy with an open try line ahead but the final pass to him was too high and hard and he couldn’t collect it. A few minutes later a 5 metre scrum saw a back row pick-up and Steve Jack burst through the Harris defence to score under the posts, converted by McInally to give the Stags a deserved 10-5 lead.
Harris then took the restart down into the Grangemouth half and after a few minutes of pressure play the Stags conceded a penalty for a ruck infringement in front of the posts which Harris converted to take the score to 10-8. Grangemouth replied with a period of sustained pressure which saw full back James Denny get over the line only to be bundled into touch in goal leaving the half time score at 10 – 8 in favour of the Stags.
Unfortunately that was the end of any scoring from the visitors. The 2nd half was initially pretty scrappy with mistakes from both teams. However, the local team’s experienced half backs began to control the match and kept Harris generally going forward. On 10 minutes a Harris turnover of Grangemouth’s ruck ball on the 22 and good passing put their winger in for an unconverted try. Thereafter Grangemouth failed to exert any real pressure on the Harris defence but continued mistakes frustrated both teams and a lot of play was mid field. In the last 10 minutes Harris started to believe victory was theirs and began to up their attacks. They “murdered” 2 clear scoring chances with the line open and no defence around when passes were too poor to be taken.
The last 5 minutes saw Grangemouth effectively throw away their losing bonus point. A solid Grangemouth scrum 5 metres from their own line was won but as the ball came out at the back the home scrum half nipped round to steal the ball and dive in for a converted try. This was a poor end to the match for the visitors in a match that was winnable if they had converted their own chances in the 1st half. However, overall the home team deserved their victory, at the very least, for doing the simple things right.
Next week The Stags welcome Stirling University to Glensburgh and a finger buffet is being laid on for home supporters before the match with a 3.00pm KO.