After the cancellation of their shield match the previous week the Stags kicked off their season by making the short trip to Bridgenaugh to face a youthful County side. Grangemouth fielded several new faces with Kerr and Venter in the centre and Sikora and Geldenhuys in the back row. The Stags made a strong start winning the first 3 scrums against the head to pin County back in their 22. On 8 minutes the home team tried to attack from deep but a kick through was blocked and picked up by Coyle. He offloaded to Kerr who raced up the line to beat the cover and run round under the sticks. Coyle slotted the conversion. Grangemouth continued to dominate and added try number 2 on 20 minutes. Venter made the break before being stopped just short of the line. The ball was moved back to White to bulldoze over from close range. This time the conversion was off target. A few minutes later the Stags increased their lead. From a lineout on the home 22 Grangemouth worked through several phases before the ball reached Kerr who burst through for his second score. Once again the conversion attempt was wide. County then had a spell of pressure and a promising attack was halted on the Stags 22 when Venter ripped the ball from the attacker, stepped out of the tackle and raced 75 metres for a fine individual score. Coyle added the simple conversion. County were struggling to clear their lines and soon after they were driven back to their own try line. They took the ball over their line in a ruck and Watson was able to dive on the ball for a score. Coyle was again on target. Having commanded a 31 point lead, Grangemouth seemed to switch off for the last few minutes of the half and this allowed County the opportunity to grab a couple of quick scores. Firstly a bounce pass allowed the home centre to break the defensive line for a converted try. Then after a couple of penalties gave them field position they worked a move round the front of the lineout for an unconverted score. HT County 12 Stags 31.
County were clearly lifted by their scores before the break and were helped by some sloppy play by the Stags. Grangemouth were loose on the ball in their 22 and County pounced to pick up the ball and dive over from close range. Grangemouth needed to restore their dominance and soon after a powerful run from Sikora broke a few tackles before he offloaded to Stanley and the fullback slipped the scoring pass to Geldenhuys. Stanley added the extras. As the game entered the final quarter Stirling collected the bonus point when they were awarded a try after a drive to the line seemed to have come up short. From the kick off the home team tried to run from deep but a wild pass was picked off and moved to Bell who barrelled his way over for the score. Stanley slotted the conversion. Next Venter stepped his way through a couple of defenders before passing to Stanley for the score. The fullback duly converted his own score. Straight from the kick off the ball was passed to Sikora who burst through 4 attempted tackles to race 60 metres for the score. Stanley added the extras. With the last play County intercepted a promising Stags attack on the home 22 to run in for the score.
FT County 29 Stags 59.
As the scoreline suggests this was a comfortable victory for the Stags. They dominated up front taking several scrums against the head and the home side struggled to deal with the powerful running of White, Sikora and Geldenhuys. Grangemouth know they were a bit loose at times and will need to cut down on their mistakes in upcoming matches. This week the Stags are again on the road as they travel to Cupar to face Howe of Fife with a 3pm KO.