Rugby: Grangemouth Stags secure first win of league of season away to Dundee

The district side made seven changes from the previous weekend’s defeat; McNab and White returned to the back row with Euan Strathie moving to second row. In the backs, there were starts for Taylor and Rooney and a new half back pairing of Ward and Sam Quinn.

Grangemouth started brightly and pinned the home side in their 22. The early pressure paid off and from a five-metre scrum White picked up to power over. Ward was on target with the conversion.

From the kick off the Stags were back on the attack. They secured a lineout on the opposition 22 but the ball was knocked on and Dundee launched a counterattack from deep.

They moved the ball along their back line and their centre slipped through a tackle before outpacing the cover to race 75 metres upfield and score under the posts. Despite this setback Grangemouth continued to dominate and on 15 minutes were back in the lead.

A series of tap penalties in the home 22 finally resulted in White claiming his second score from close range. The conversion was unsuccessful. Dundee were forced to defend for most of the rest of the half.

Just before the break the Stags collected their third try. From a lineout Ward had a dart before linking with Johnston and the flankers superb offload allowed Ferguson to squeeze in at the corner to hand Stags a ten-point lead.

Grangemouth continued to dominate at the start of the second period. The kicked a penalty to touch 10 metres from the home line. They drove the resulting lineout over the line with Watson getting the score.

However their lead was reduced soon after as they gifted the home side a score. The Stags tried to run out from their 22 but the pass was intercepted for a simple run in and a converted score.

On 55 minutes, Grangemouth again extended their lead. Once again a driving lineout was finished off by Watson. Soon after that advantage was reduced after an attempted clearing kick was charged down and the ball bounced kindly for the home winger to score.

Crucially the conversion was wide. As the game entered the final 10 minutes Dundee made it a one-point game. From a lineout in their half the ball was moved to the winger who outpaced the cover to score.

The Stags finished the game well as they pinned the opposition deep in their 22. They were unable to score but used up the remaining minutes before kicking to touch to secure the 27-26 victory.

This was a deserved win for the Stags who should have won by a much bigger margin. They dominated possession and territory but gifted Dundee their scores leading to a nervy finish.

The pack were on top in the scrums and lineouts while Johnston was excellent in the loose. This weekend the Stags are back at home as they face Kinross with kick-off at 3pm.