Saturday 27th October 3007
National Division 2
Glensburgh Park
GRANGEMOUTH STAGS RFC 10 - 17 FORRESTERS RFC
Forresters arrived at Glensburgh on Saturday with only one defeat and determined to confirm their second position in the league. Once again the local side showed many changes from the previous week with seven changes in personel and four positional changes in the starting line up.
Young Tom Chapman was drafted in on the wing as a last minute call up and the local supporters were also surprised to see the ample frame of skipper McFarlane squeezed into the number 12 shirt. As he took his place beside the veteran Sonny Campbell this was surely the biggest 10/12 combination since the days of Caie and Churchill.
Grangemouth kicked off, and immediately good work by Gillanders allowed the Stags to gain some useful territory and they took the lead after 2 minutes when Gowdie charged down a kick and the visitors conceded a penalty at the ruck. Forbes converted the kick. Forresters hit back and should have scored after 5 minutes when a long pass released the outside centre. With men outside he elected to cut inside the full back but was halted by a superb covering tackle by Innes. The visitors continued to press for a score but great defence from scrums and lineouts especially by the back row kept the home line intact. However after 21 minutes the score finally came when one of their props dived over in the corner following a series of drives close to the line. The difficult conversion was missed. The Stags hit back and Forbes was just short with a penalty on the half hour mark. With Forresters conceding another penalty the Stags kicked for the corner and won the line out. Good driving play from backs and forwards sucked in the visitors defence and good hands allowed Forbes to round his man for the try which he converted. The first half finished with Grangemouth on the attack but unable to increase the lead as Campbell missed a drop goal. Half time 10 - 5
The second half started with Grangemouth on top with Campbell surprising everyone by finding a gap and making useful ground. After 48 minutes he sold another dummy to open a huge gap and good link play by West and Innes released Allan up the touch line. When the move broke down the young winger then showed good pace to chase back and retrieve a dangerous kick ahead. Grangemouth were denied a few minutes later when great play by Taylor, Chapman, Innes and Gillanders saw Tulloch tackled half a metre short of the line. With the game into the last quarter the visitors finally gained some territory of their own but were again kept out by some great tackling and poor hands. With 10 minutes to go the home defence was finally beaten when a good backs move allowed the winger to score in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed to leave the game tied. Forresters attacked again and with 2 minutes left a crossfield run by the winger allowed the centre to change direction to score under the posts for the winning try and easy conversion. Final score 10 -17.
A disappointing result in the end but all the players should take heart from a much improved performance all round. The back row of Taylor, Gillanders and Innes were excellent in attack and defence and there were solid performances from Gowdie and Allan in the backs. Lets hope the team can carry some of their good home form away from home as they take on Glasgow Accies at New Anniesland next Saturday KO 2pm
