The Stags welcomed Dundee to Glensburgh last Saturday for their final home game of the season. Grangemouth made 4 changes from their last outing with starts for Gemmell, Allan, Coyle and McDonald. On a dry but breezy afternoon the Stags had the advantage of the wind in the first half. The opening 3 minutes saw the ball constantly in play with both sides failing to hold onto the ball. Finally a loose pass was hacked on by Allan and Strathie collected to dive over for an unconverted score. Dundee were keen to move the ball at every opportunity and they drew level on 7 minutes. Good handling by the backs allowed their centre to loop round the winger and score in the corner. A few minutes later the visitors added a second unconverted score when the winger was given enough space to beat the last defender to score. The try’s continued and Grangemouth were back in the lead on 15 minutes. White and Allan carried into the visitors 22. From a lineout White was stopped ust short of the line but Stanley was on hand to dive over. Coyle slotted the conversion. The lead was short lived as Dundee added a third score after good support play. On 24 minutes the scores were level. From a lineout deep in the visitors 22 a flat pass found White and the number 8 crashed over from close range. Back came Dundee and they added the bonus point score after forcing their way over the line after a tap penalty. With half time approaching the Stags began to gain some dominance in the scrum. From a retreating scrum close to their line Dundee tried to clear but the kick was partially charged down. The ball found its way to Coyle and the winger beat the cover for the score. He added the extras. With the last play of the half Grangemouth extended their lead. Gemmell kicked downfield to force a lineout in the Dundee 22. Bell had a drive for the line before White crashed over for his second try. Coyle added the conversion. HT Stags 31 Dundee 22.
Playing into the wind in the second half the Stags made a disastrous start with 2 big mistakes. From the kick off they knocked the ball on straight to a Dundee player who collected for an easy run in under the sticks. Worse was to follow a few minutes later when a promising attack on the visitors 22 saw a pass intercepted and returned 75 metres for a converted score. Grangemouth levelled once again after another dominant scrum. The ball was moved wide and Coyle added his 2nd try. With the scores level at 36 all the closing quarter was a nervy affair with both teams making plenty of mistakes. The deadlock was broken on 70 minutes. White had another fine run from deep. Allan continued the move and Balfour was able to skip round his man and score in the corner. The closing minutes saw the visitors back on the attack but a couple of knock ons allowed the Stags to close out the game and secure the victory to guarantee second place in the league. FT Stags 41 Dundee 36.
This was a messy performance from the Stags. They looked good in attack but made far too many basic handling errors, failed to use the wind in the first half, dropped off tackles and lost too much ball in contact. There are plenty of things to work on for the coaches over the next few weeks. Grangemouth now have 2 away games to complete the regular season with away games against Perthshire and Dundee on 18th and 25th April before the playoffs are due to start on 16 May.