Alls well that ends well

After a two week break due to the weather the Stags were finally back in action last Saturday as Blairgowrie made the trip to Glensburgh. Grangemouth fielded a strong side which included Gavin Curran back at flanker for his first start in over a year. On a bright but bitterly cold day the Stags opening kick off failed to reach the 10 metre line and the visitors opted for a scrum on halfway. A powerful surge by the home pack resulted in a take against the head and Aspinall drove up field. The ball was recycled and a Parsons kick and chase resulted in Blairgowrie conceding a five metre scrum. From the steady platform scrum half McPherson darted down the blind side to crash over for his first try of the season. Innes was on target with the conversion from a difficult angle. However the Stags failed to build on their excellent start and a series of handling errors and penalties allowed the visitors to settle into the game. On 15 minutes Blairgowrie capitalised on some poor home tackling to open their account. The visitors centre was allowed to break several tackles and his well timed pass allowed his winger to squeeze in at the corner for an unconverted score. Grangemouth hit back and increased their lead on 20 minutes. Innes made the initial break and kicked ahead. He followed up to reclaim the ball and score near the posts. Once again he landed the conversion. Straight from the kick off Blairgowrie collected their second score. The home side failed to clear their lines and again some missed tackles allowed the visitors to score in the corner. Blairgowrie were gaining in confidence against an out of sorts Grangemouth side and with 5 minutes to go in the half they collected their third try. The visitors backs moved the ball along the line to the winger who cut back inside the defence to run round under the posts for the converted try. Just on half time Grangemouth did reclaim the lead. Blairgowrie had already conceded a number of penalties inside their 22. The Stags then set up a driving maul from a five metre lineout and when this was illegally brought down the referee awarded a penalty try. Innes landed the easy kick. HT Stags 21 Blairgowrie 17

There were some strong words from the coaches at half time and this seemed to have the desired effect as the home side started the second period in more determined fashion. The bonus point score came on 47 minutes after a lineout steal on the visitors 22. Denny set the ball up in midfield and good hands in the backs allowed enough space for Pedyo to avoid the touchline and score in the corner. Try number 5 followed soon after. The Stags ran a tap penalty inside the Blair 22 and when Curran was held just short of the line Hind was on hand to collect the pass for the score. It was one way traffic at this stage and the next score came after the forwards had driven up to the 22. The ball was moved along the back line for Innes to give the scoring pass to allow Pedyo to round the cover and score under the posts. Innes slotted the easy conversion. Soon after Pedyo had the chance to complete his hat trick after a burst by Curran but the winger was unable to hold onto the pass and the chance was lost. Innes then collected his second try as his angled run from a scrum on the 22 cut through the defence for a score under the posts. Blairgowrie did manage a rare attack and collected a bonus point score as they attacked down the right wing before feeding back inside to the support for a converted score. There was time for Grangemouth to add two further scores. First after a series of drives close to the line the ball was moved to the blind side for McNiff to score out wide. Then with the final play of the game a huge drive by the home pack shunted a Blairgowrie scrum back over their line and substitute scrum half Wieczorek celebrated his return to the first team by diving into the scrum to grab the score. FT Stags 55 Blairgowrie 24

In the end this was a very comfortable win for the Stags but the players and coaches will not be happy with the overall performance especially in the first half. There were too many missed tackles and some of the handling was poor. The lineout also struggled in the first half. Next week the Stags are again at home as they take on bottom side Panmure with KO 3pm