Saturday 26th September 2009

Caledonia League 1

Glensburgh park

GRANGEMOUTH STAGS 26 – 25 MADRAS COLLEGE FP.

Grangemouth Stags played their get out of jail card and escaped with a nail biting win at Glensburgh this weekend. Trailing 25-12 in the last quarter of the match, the Stags managed to perform a late rally that saw them steal the game and secure the 4 try bonus point, leaving them in the top half of the league after 5 games.

The starting line up was as close to the team that demolished Kinross last week, with only two enforced changes. Again the game kicked off in near perfect weather, with Glensburgh looking in perfect condition. However, it was Madras who were to get the first points on the board scoring a converted try after only 3 minutes. Some loose line out play allowed their no.9 to nip through the line and run hard and straight for the posts, which was an alarm call to the home side.

The Stags were quick to reply though, and scored the first of their own touch downs only minutes later, with Graham Alexander once again chasing down a pin point kick from Blair Skipper to touch down in the far corner. The tricky conversion was pushed wide, but this set the tempo for a very entertaining game. Both sides looked to spread the ball wide, but both defences were holding strong. In particular, the Grangemouth centre pairing once again looked solid with big hits and team tackling.

However, Madras closed out the half further on top with first an easy penalty awarded for hands in a ruck, then a score out wide which was converted. Their kicker looked on top form, with the half ending with the away team up 17-5. Grangemouth started the second half with renewed vigour with some straight running form Tony Hayes. Following on from his two try haul last week, he burst up the left channel, fed a dummy to their full back and headed in to score. Easily converted by Skipper, the Stags now trailing  17-12. Madras once again stepped up the pace and looked to have secured the points when a further penalty and unconverted score saw them stretch their lead to 25-12 with only 20 minutes to go, but Grangemouth were to come storming back with some amazing rugby.

First Dave MacFarlane slipped over from a well manufactured pick and drive from the scrum, then Blair Skipper was to hit the ball at pace after numerous phases of play on the Madras 22 finally wearing them out, as he ghosted untouched underneath the bar. Converting both tries, this sneaked the Port side one point ahead with 3 minutes remaining. These were torture as they tried to run the clock out, but conceded a penalty out widein the home 22. The Madrass kicker was finally to lose his nerve and push his effort wide allowing the Stags to play out the final few seconds.

This was the 2nd home win on the trot and was perhaps a harder earned and tougher victory than last weeks demolishing of Kinross. Training numbers remained in the 30’s all week allowing a cohesive game plan to start coming together and bear fruit. Next week finds the Stags travelling north to take on Aberdeen Uni with a renewed sense of confidence and vigour.

Team: G Mair, G Alexander, T Chapman, C MacIntyre, B Scott, B Skipper, N Chisholm, A Whyte, D MacFarlane, G McNiff, C Bird, S Binnie, M Stirling, B Tulloch, C Williamson,  Subs (All used) A Hayes, B Johnston, A MnCube

Scorers: Tries- Hayes, Alexander, MacFarlane & Skipper. Cons: Skipper (3)