Stags Take Top Spot

After their cup success the previous week the Stags turned their attention back to league business last Saturday as they travelled to Carnoustie for week 11 of the league campaign. A number of key individuals were unavailable and Grangemouth fielded a very young team with 7 teenagers in the starting line up and another 2 on the bench. Grangemouth started the match strongly and were soon on the attack. The home side were pinned inside their 22 after a good kick from Innes and a follow up tackle from McNab. Connor McFarlane caught and drove on from a lineout and Jamieson was then held up over the line. The opening score was only delayed by a couple of minutes as Carnoustie conceded a scrum penalty and Davy McFarlane took a quick tap and drove over from 10 metres for the try. The kick from Innes was wide. Serafini had a good run from the kick off but the Stags failed to capitalise on their good start as the big home forwards began to control territory. Carnoustie missed a penalty on 8 minutes as Grangemouth struggled to relieve the pressure. Innes and Serafini combined to make one break out of defence but the intended pass to Dempsey was intercepted and the move stalled. Carnoustie then missed another kick at goal before the Stags increased their lead on 20 minutes. A clever kick from Innes took play deep into the home 22. Young McFarlane again claimed the lineout ball and was driven over the line by the pack with Jamieson collecting the touchdown. This time Innes was successful with the conversion. Grangemouth dominated the next 15 minutes but failed to add to their score. Dempsey had a good run and a McNab charge down looked like producing a score but the play was brought back for an offside penalty. In the last 5 minutes of the half the game turned nasty with a number of off the ball incidents. Connor McFarlane was unlucky to be given a yellow card for pushing and then Davy McFarlane and one of the Carnoustie players joined him in the sin bin after some ‘handbags’. Halt time 0 – 12

The second half started with the Stags dominating despite being a man down. Dempsey had a good run from 30 metres and looked likely to score but was held up over the line. From the resultant 5 metre scrum McNiff had the initial drive before Jamieson was on hand to pick up and score from his usual short range. The conversion from wide out was missed. Again Grangemouth failed to build on their good start and allowed the home side back into the game. Pressure on the Stags 22 saw the Carnoustie backs create an overlap with a loop in midfield and the right winger was able to squeeze in at the corner for an unconverted score. Finally Grangemouth stepped up the pace and created a well worked try. Good quick hands in the backs allowed Herron the space to power down his wing before passing back inside to Dempsey who skipped under the posts for the bonus point try. Innes added the simple conversion. The game deteriorated in the final quarter with both sides conceding penalties at the breakdown. With 15 minutes left Carnoustie added their second try with a tap penalty close to the Stags line. Finally with 2 minutes left the home side snatched another score after the Stags defence failed to deal with a kick through and the home centre had an easy pick up to score. Final score 15 -24

This was a hard fought bonus point victory for the Stags in a very scrappy game. The players and coaches know that there will have to be a significant improvement in the performance in the next 2 weeks when they take on two of their close rivals in the league. Next Saturday Grangemouth make the short trip to Stirling to take on the students. KO should be 12 noon but any travelling supporters should check the website during the week for confirmation