Stags fall to defeat in final match of the season

Stags’ starting XV saw a number of changes with Ward, Clyne, Ferguson and Mowat in the backs.

Ellon kicked off and Grangemouth seemed to have the matter in hand but allowed the ball to bounce, and it was gathered. The ball was fed to Andrew, who ran in to score to give them an early 7-0 lead.

This spurred Stags into action and, following a series of drives, Harvey crashed over. The conversion was missed to level.

Further slack defending allowed Ellon back upfield and a penalty saw them increase their lead to 10-5.

Grangemouth took the initiative following an offside penalty at a lineout when McNiff was able to score following another series of drives to make it 10-10. This was followed by a scintillating piece of play running off the scrum ball.

Ward made a deep thrust on the blindside and broke a tackle. He then fed Forsyth, who ran in to score. Skelton got the extras to make it 17-10.

Ellon hit back with a run of their own. A missed tackle by Stags saw them score in the corner. The conversion was missed. Ellon attacked again and scored another try to make it 22-17.

Stags fought back and following a series of scrum penalties in the Ellon 22 saw Hind crash over. Skelton got the conversion to make the half-time score 24-22.

Stags started to concede a number of penalties which allowed Ellon to gain ground and they made this pressure tell with the final try of the match. This was converted for 29-24.

In the last 10 minutes of the match, Stags were penalised and Hind shown a yellow card.

Ellon played out the last few minutes of the match to take the away win.

The two teams were equally matched, with Ellon showing better composure throughout the game to deservedly take the points.

Stags will now look forward to an off-season break before returning for pre-season training in June.

On Saturday, the second XV will play in their final league game when Montrose are due to visit Glensburgh. Kick-off is at 3pm.