Grangemouth open up with 8 try win

Alloa made the short trip to Glensburgh last Saturday for week four of the league campaign. Grangemouth were able to field an unchanged back division with Keigan and Neill returning to the pack. On a perfect day for rugby the Stags were quickly on the attack after a Skipper kick pinned the visitors inside their 22. The Stags almost opened the scoring when Alloa messed up an attempt to clear from a scrum close to their line and were forced to carry over with Wieczerek just missing out on a touchdown. From the resulting five metre scrum Neill picked up and powered over in the corner for an unconverted try. A few minutes later Grangemouth doubled their lead. Wieczerek made a break from a ruck in midfield and kicked ahead into the Alloa 22. The follow up was good and the visitor’s fullback was tackled and the ball was turned over. The loose ball was passed to Innes who went over unchallenged for the second unconverted try. Alloa gradually played their way into the game and scored on 15 minutes. A break by their centre took play into the home 22. The initial defence was good but the ball was recycled and moved to the right winger to score in the corner. Alloa continued to press for further scores but the home defence held firm and were able to clear their lines. Grangemouth then moved back on to the attack and increased their lead on 25 minutes. The ball was moved along the back line and Skipper looped round his winger to kick ahead. Parsons followed up to kick on with the ball bouncing up nicely for Skipper to grab the score. Again the kick was missed. Alloa went back on the attack and Craig was given a yellow card for an infringement at the breakdown close to the Stags line. Despite being a man down Grangemouth finished the half strongly and collected the bonus point score before the break. Alloa were caught offside and the tap penalty was taken quickly with Curran on hand to collect the scoring pass. Once again the conversion was wide. HT Stags 20 Alloa 5

Alloa had the early pressure at the start of the second half. They missed a penalty and would have had an easier kick but the penalty was reversed. However it was Grangemouth who increased their lead. Weir had a rumble deep in his own half and Johnston made the break in the centre. The ball was moved quickly from the breakdown and Denny was able to round his man and run round under the posts. This time the conversion from McInally was good. Soon after a Neill burst took play back to the Alloa 22 and when the ball was moved out to the left Pedyo was able to squeeze in at the corner. Alloa continued to look dangerous on the counter attack and Denny had to chase back to clear the danger from a kick downfield. With 15 minutes to go Grangemouth added try number seven. Innes had the initial run and when the ball was moved along the line Curran was lurking on the wing to run in for his second score. McInally was again on target with the kick. From the kick off Neill made 20 metres before the ball was moved to Innes. The centre kicked ahead and beat the cover to score near the posts. McInally added the extra 2 points. In the closing minutes Alloa collected their second try. A loose clearing kick was fielded by the Alloa winger who set off across field before beating the cover on his opposite wing to score in the corner.
Full time Stags 46 Alloa 10

This was a much improved performance by the Stags from the previous weeks. Weir had a fine game in the loose and the running and support play was better. The Stags will still have to work on their first up tackling and their discipline for the weeks ahead. This week Grangemouth travel to Dundee to take on the University. The students have made a solid start to the season after gaining promotion last year. Supporters should note that the KO is 2 pm.