Stags to Hot to Handle

Madras were the visitors to Glensburgh last Saturday for the last home league game of the year. The St Andrews side were bottom of the table and had lost by over 100 points in their previous fixture. There was drama on the morning of the game as a gas leak caused the police to block off Glensburgh Road preventing players from both sides reaching the club. Luckily the road blocks were lifted just in time to allow a delayed kick off. Grangemouth fielded a strong side with McNab in the back row, Randalls on the wing and Clyne at full back. From the kick off Grangemouth were quickly on the attack and opened the scoring after just 4 minutes. The forwards drove a lineout in midfield before the ball was released to the backs. Skipper kicked through and recovered the ball to run in under the posts. McInally added the conversion. Madras hit back and scored 5 minutes later. Some sloppy defending allowed the visitor’s forwards to rumble over for an unconverted try. The Stags were back on the attack a couple of minutes later. From a quick lineout the ball was moved along the backs to allow Herron to beat the cover and run round under the posts. McInally added the simple conversion. On 20 minutes Innes was over the line but lost the ball in the tackle and the chance was lost. The try was only delayed 3 minutes as the front row claimed a tight head and Neill picked up and brushed off some weak tackling to run in from 30 metres. Once again McInally added the extra 2 points. The bonus point was secured after 28 minutes. The forwards again drove a lineout and a Craig drive took play close to the line. The ball was moved wide with Herron coming off his wing to score near the posts with McInally again adding the conversion. Five minutes later a quick tap penalty saw Neill slice through the defence before timing the pass perfectly for Skipper to score under the posts. McInally made it 5 out of 5 with the simple kick. Just on half time the pack drove over the line from a 5 metre scrum with Neill claiming his second try. This time the conversion attempt was wide. HT Stags 40 Madras 5.

The one way traffic continued in the second period. Neill completed his hat trick soon after the restart when he collected a pass from a tap penalty and crashed through some poor attempted tackles to score under the posts. McInally slotted the simple conversion. A few minutes later another quick tap penalty saw the ball move along the line for Herron to round the cover and jog in under the posts. McInally added the extra points. As the game entered the final quarter the scrum was again driven over the line but somehow the Madras scrum half managed to dive in to prevent the score. From the resultant drop out Wieczerek made a break and kicked ahead. The Madras fullback was tackled close to his line and the ball was turned over with McInally collecting the scoring pass for his first try of the season. Two minutes later the captain doubled his tally as he collected a pass on the 10 metre line and galloped in from 40 metres. Skipper took over the kicking duties to slot the conversion. With 5 minutes to go McInally completed an unlikely hat trick. Neill made the initial break from a tap penalty before passing to his skipper for an easy score. The veteran second row even had enough energy to land the conversion himself. In the closing minutes a Madras scrum was disrupted and Innes was on hand to collect the loose ball and stroll over. Skipper completed the scoring with the conversion.
FT Stags 80 Madras 5

This was a very easy win for the Stags against a poor Madras side. Neill had a great game in the loose and was well supported by McInally and Kerry from the second row. Herron and Randalls ran strongly throughout but the handling was sloppy at times. Next week the Stags make the short trip to Alloa for the last league game before Xmas with KO 2 pm