Tough Day for 2s in Forfar

The seconds headed north to take on Strathmore 2s last Saturday. With a host of players unavailable for various reasons the team were forced to travel with 14 players and borrow 2 from the home side. Grangemouth made a good start. They turned the opposition over from the kick off. Morgan had a burst to the 22 and the home team were penalised at the breakdown. Chapman slotted the penalty. Strathmore hit back immediately. They secured the kick off and a series of drives sucked in the defenders creating a simple overlap and an unconverted score. A few minutes later Chapman was wide with a penalty attempt. However on 12 minutes the Stags were back in front. Luke Quinn secured lineout ball on the home 22. The ball was moved to the centre where Anderson made a half break before slipping the ball to Hugh to dive over. The conversion was again wide. As the game entered the second quarter Strathmore started to use their forwards to attack around the breakdown area and were rewarded with 2 converted scores. The Stags fought back and were rewarded with an individual score from an unlikely source. Grangemouth secured untidy lineout ball on halfway. Forsyth popped the ball to Clark who raced 50 metres up the touchline to score in the corner. Again the conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Soon after the Stags almost snatched another score. Grangemouth attacked from deep in their 22. Anderson skipped through a couple of tackles to take play into the Strathmore half. As he tried to step round the final defender he was unlucky to trip himself up and the chance was lost. Before half time the home side collected the bonus point. A long kick downfield was collected by Grangemouth but as they tried to run the ball back the ball went loose allowing an easy run in. Just on the half time whistle Morgan was forced from the field with a head knock. HT Strathmore 26 Stags 13.

The second half started badly as the Stags lost the ball in contact and the home flanker ran in unopposed. Another turnover saw Strathmore stretch their lead before Grangemouth collected their 3rd score. Hugh made the initial burst into the home 22 and when the ball was switched to the blindside Luke Quinn was on hand to dive over and collect his first senior try. Again the conversion was wide. Grangemouth were reduced to 14 with Anderson off with a leg injury and the home side emptied their bench bringing on 4 players from their 1st XV squad. The tiring Stags defence were no match for the dominant home side who ran in 4 further scores. FT Strathmore 66 Stags 18.

Despite the score line this was a hard fought encounter with some good performances from the Stags. They competed well throughout and were unlucky not to come away with at least a point. On the plus side 9 of the 14 players who travelled were aged 23 and below. There were good performances from Cameron Anderson and the Quinn brothers, Peter, Samuel and Luke. This week the seconds travel to face Bannockburn with KO 3pm.