Stags back to winning ways

After the disappointment of the defeat at Glenrothes the previous week, Grangemouth were back on the road last Saturday as they travelled to Kinross. Once again the Stags were short of a number of regulars with Binnie and McNab continuing in the pack and starts for Christie, Pedyo and Randalls. There was also the unlikely sight of Jamieson starting at number 8 for the unavailable Neill. Grangemouth were on top from the start. A run by Pedyo took play into the home 22. McFarlane took a clean lineout catch and after an initial forward drive Jamieson was able to peel off and power over under the posts. Johnstone added the easy conversion. A few minutes later Stirling was carried off the field after an ankle injury. Grangemouth continued to press but it was another 15 minutes before they added to their lead. Parsons made the initial run to the Kinross 22 and when the ball was recycled Aspinall was on hand to break a tackle and score near the posts. Once again Johnstone added the extra 2 points. Try number 3 arrived on 22 minutes. The home side were penalised inside their 22 and McFarlane took a quick tap penalty to easily beat the defence for the score. Johnstone made it 3 from 3 with the conversion. The bonus point try was scored after 30 minutes. Grangemouth moved the ball through a number of phases and when th play was moved to the blind side Jamieson appeared on the wing to crash over in the corner. This time the kick was missed. With half time approaching the Stags increased their lead with 2 quick trys. Firstly after an initial surge down he left the ball was moved wide and with a huge overlap Johnstone was able to cross for the unconverted score. From the kick off Johnstone made the break and when Kinross were penalised for a high tackle, a quickly taken penalty saw Pedyo squeeze in at the corner. HT 0-36

Grangemouth made a number of changes at halt time but continued to press for further scores. However a combination of poor decision making and execution saw a number of scoring chances wasted. In fact it was Kinross who scored the first try of the half after 57 minutes. A long kick downfield saw the Stags pinned inside their 22 and after a series of tap penalties the home forwards drove over in the corner for the score. Grangemouth responded immediately with arty from Parsons. From scrappy lineout ball McPherson was able to make an initial break before linking with Johnstone. The stand off was tackled just short of the line and quick hands saw the veteran fullback score in the corner. Try number 8 followed soon after. The Stags ran the ball from deep inside their 22 and with Curran and McNiff involved a couple of times took play up to the home line where quick ball saw Dempsey skip round the defence to score. This time Johnstone was able to add the conversion. The next score came from an uncontested scrum and simple hands saw Randalls power over in the corner. Just on full time the Stags completed the scoring. From a scrum take against the head Cunningham took play up to the Kinross 22 before the ball was moved wide for Parsons to score his second try. Final score 5 – 58

This was a very comfortable win for a Stags side missing a number of the regular squad. At times play was too scrappy and the coaches will hope for further improvements in the coming weeks. Next Saturday the Stags make it a hat trick of away trips as they travel to Rosyth to take on Fife Southern with a 3 pm KO.