Away Loss for Stags

After a two week break the Stags were back in action as they travelled to face Panmure. The Broughty Ferry side were sitting top of the table having won their previous 5 matches and a difficult game was expected . With several regulars unavailable Grangemouth made several changes from their last outing. Rooney and Stewart made a new centre partnership, Balfour was in at 9, Ferguson started at prop and Scott and Quinn packed down in the second row. On a sunny but cold afternoon the home side had the advantage of the slope in the first half and were straight on to the attack. The Stags were penalised at a breakdown after just 3 minutes and Panmure kicked a simple penalty. Grangemouth hit back and drew level soon after. Good carries by Harvey and Clark took play to the home 22 and when they were penalised Constable stepped up to land the kick. The home side responded and pinned the Stags in their 22. After several phases of play they crashed over for an converted score. The Stags set pieces were misfiring and this allowed the home side to maintain the pressure. Panmure grabbed a loose lineout ball on the 10 metre line and ran in for an unconverted score. Then the Grangemouth scrum was penalised and the lively home scrum half took a quick tap penalty to scamper in under the sticks. Grangemouth tried to hit back and made a rare excursion to the Panmure 22. Unfortunately McNab sustained a nasty head wound and had to be replaced by Thomson. Worse was to follow as the home side secured a turnover and ran in the bonus point score from inside their own half. A further scrum penalty saw another quick tap and try number 5. In the closing minutes of the half the Stags kicked a penalty to touch deep in the Panmure 22. Quinn secured the ball and the pack drove over the line with Harvey collecting the touchdown. Constable was unable to add the extras. HT Panmure 32 Stags 8.

Grangemouth made a decent start to the second half and pinned the home side back in their half. However they found it difficult to break down the Panmure defence and far too often lost the ball in contact. They did score a second try on 52 minutes. Once again the pack drove a lineout. Then Watson had a run and after several phases White was able to crash over with Constable adding the extras. The final quarter saw the home side back on top as they ran in 3 further scores as the Stags missed numerous tackles. FT Panmure 51 Stags 15.

This was a very disappointing performance and result. They struggled for good ball with the scrum under pressure and the lineout misfiring. In open play they were far too loose as they lost the ball in contact and were turned over at the breakdown. The defence was passive and poor with several missed tackles. This week the Stags are back at home as they face Hillfoots with KO 3pm.