Improving Stags Just Miss Out on Opening Win

After their opening two away fixtures Grangemouth were finally back at home last Saturday as they welcomed Harris to Glensburgh. The Stags had a lengthy injury and unavailability list and made eight changes from the previous week with Kirkwood, Jamieson and McNab as a new look back row, Rutherford at scrum half and young Tom Chapman making a rare appearance at stand off. On a perfect day for rugby Harris had the early pressure but were unable to break through the home defence. On 7 minutes it was the Stags who took the early lead. The visitors through out a wild pass in midfield. Herron was first to react and he hacked on to outpace
the cover and score near the posts. Innes was on target with the conversion. Harris hit back and scored a well worked try on 12 minutes. Good offloading in the tackle created the space for an unconverted try in the corner. Five minutes later the visitors took the lead with a simple score. They won a lineout on the 22 and a flat pass saw the centre crash through a huge gap for a converted try. Poor tackling resulted in try number three on 22 minutes. The move seemed to be going nowhere as the winger received the ball wide out on the 22. However he cut back inside and brushed off several weak attempts at tackles to score under the posts. Harris duly collected the bonus point score on the half hour mark. The centre again burst through some poor defence for another converted score. The one way traffic continued as the visitors number 8 picked up from a scrum on halfway and somehow beat all the cover to score in the corner. At this point the game looked all over with Harris threatening to run riot. However just before half time the Stags finally gained some field position with a penalty kick into the corner. The forwards drove the lineout and when the ball popped out Carrie was on hand to crash over from short range. HT Stags 12 Harris 31

Grangemouth started the second half as they had ended the first. They kicked a penalty into the corner and again drove the lineout. This time it was Jamieson who emerged from the heap of bodies to claim the try. The comeback was definitely on as the Stags collected their bonus point score on 50 minutes. Herron made the initial burst before passing to Innes. He stepped round the fullback and ran in under the posts. He duly added the extra two points to close the gap to just seven. However this proved to be the last score of the game. There were chances at both ends but neither side could add to the scoring. Innes almost scored after a chip and chase but he was narrowly thwarted by the Harris cover. FT Stags 24 Harris 31

This was a much improved performance from the Stags who, after conceding some poor scores early on, fought back strongly to almost snatch a draw in the closing minutes. The home side will be hoping to have a few more of their regulars back for the upcoming games. Next week the Stags are on the road again as they travel to Cupar to take on Howe. KO is 3pm