Grangemouth Stags defeated by Strathmore

On another good day for rugby, Gragemouth had the early territory. Unfortunately they struggled to obtain clean possession at the scrum and were unable to maintain the early pressure.

On 25 minutes a kick and chase from Strathmore pinned the Stags deep in their 22. Grangemouth did manage to regain possession but the attempted clearing kick failed to find touch. Strathmore ran the ball back and grabbed the opening try.

The conversion curled wide of the posts and despite both touch judges agreeing the kick was wide the referee overruled them to award the extra two points. From the kick off Strathmore were penalised at the breakdown and this time Skelton was successful with the kick.

On the verge of half-time, a missed tackle in midfield allowed the home centre to break through and take play into the 22. The ball was recycled through several phases before the prop was on hand to barge over from short range. This time the conversion was on target.

Strathmore increased their lead at the start of the second period. Again, the attack went through several phases before the ball was moved wide for the winger to squeeze in at the corner.

The Stags continued to press and with 15 minutes left Dempsey took a quick tap penalty and used his strength to bounce out of several tackles and score under the posts. Skelton added the simple conversion.

On 72 minutes Strathmore were reduced to 14 men after repeated scrum infringements. Grangemouth pushed hard for the score but a combination of good home defence and some handling errors by the Stags denied the visitors further points.

With just three minutes left Strathmore launched a counter attack from deep inside their 22. Missed tackles allowed the hosts to score the bonus point try. The conversion was wide.

This Saturday the Stags are at home against near neighbours Alloa. Kick-off is 3pm.