Game of two halves and Stags prevail.

The Stags were at home last Saturday for the first time since mid February as they welcomed newly crowned league champions Orkney to Glensburgh. Grangemouth were able to field a strong side with Sloan, Anderson, Grant and Wieczorek back in the starting lineup. On a perfect day for rugby the home side had the advantage of the strong breeze in the first half and were on the scoreboard after just 2 minutes. Orkney knocked on at the kick off and gave away a quick couple of penalties. Skelton kicked to the corner and from the resulting lineout the pack drove over with Harvey getting the touchdown. Skelton was unable to add the extras. Five minutes later the Stags increased their lead. A kick downfield pinned the visitors deep in their 22. From a 5 metre scrum Harvey picked up and had the strength to crash over for his second score. This time Skelton landed the difficult conversion. Grangemouth continued to dominate and a turnover in their own half allowed the home side to kick downfield. Forsyth and Anderson followed up to prevent the visitors from clearing their lines. The Stags secured a scrum 15 metres from the Orkney line. Harvey again picked up and this time he released Gemmell with a perfect offload for an unconverted score. As the game entered the second quarter Orkney finally began to use their forwards to gain territory. After a spell of pressure in the home 22 they were unlucky not to score when they were over the line but the referee decided the ball was held up. On 30 minutes Grangemouth extended their lead with a Skelton penalty. A few minutes later the Stags secured the bonus point score. Clark secured a turnover on halfway. The ball was moved to Anderson who made the break before timing his pass to Forsyth to scamper in under the sticks for the score. Skelton added the conversion. Just before half time Anderson was given a yellow card for a deliberate knock on and then with the final play of the half Orkney finally opened their account with a converted score from their skipper. HT Stags 27 Orkney 7
The second half started well for the home side. A wild pass in their own half was retrieved by Nesbitt. The wing forward avoided the initial tacklers and galloped upfield. When he was finally tackled on the 22 the ball was moved along the backline to Grant who was tackled but his inside pass found Gemmell in support and the fullback ran in for his second score. Skelton was unable to add the extras. The closing 30 minutes belonged to Orkney as they showed why they were worthy champions as they roared back into the contest as the Stags faded. First they scored an unconverted try following a loose clearance kick from the Stags. They added another score following a break in the centre. Crucially the attempted quick conversion was wide. With 10 minutes to play they added the bonus point score after a quick tap penalty and narrowed the gap to 1 point with a further converted score in the corner. Grangemouth survived a very nervy final 3 minutes to hang on to the narrowest of victories. FT Stags 32 Orkney 31.
This was a very entertaining game and great credit to both sides. The Stags back row of McNab, Nesbitt and Harvey showed up well in the loose while Anderson and Gemmell ran well with ball in hand. There is no game for the !sts this week although the 2nds are at home against Bannockburn with KO 3pm. The final game of the season is on 7 May when Ellon make the trip south to Glensburgh with KO 3pm