Saturday 24th October 2009

National Division 4 (East)

Glensburgh

Grangemouth Stags 2nd XV 3 - 10 Preston Lodge 2nd XV

Dream Team fail to dislodge the East Coasters

A much changed Stags reserve squad took on the once mighty Preston Lodge 2nd’s at a wet and windy Glensburgh, unusually sun kissed at kick off.  The Stags bench saw the return of Gavin Scott from a stay in Inverness, ably supported by the experienced Brian Rubberheid.  The squad was bolstered by the return of Graeme Nitemair and Scotty Noble who have been strutting their stuff with the 1’s of late.

Coach Crossan had some stern words with his squad over the past week and demanded an improved effort from the youthful squad. He was looking for more aggression at the breakdown and an improvement with first up tackling and he was not to be let down.

One could be forgiven for shaky knees when the PL pack took to the field with a few big brutes and ample experience and a back division who threw the ball around in practice. Due to the many changes, the Dream Team warm up was more like a familiarisation meeting at a swingers convention!

So, Peep Peep, from the whistler and we were off into the stiff northerly breeze whipping across the velvet like surface, courtesy of Ormy’s horticultural skills.  It was PL who were on the ascendency from the start and it took some tough defending to hold them at bay, however, a minor discretion at the breakdown led to a 35m penalty attempt from the PL kicker who pulled his effort wide but was shortly after to find his range where the Stags infringed after some skulduggery in the ruck, probably by Davy Angus (who PL duly nicknamed as ‘Thrush’ after the game…. Work that out for yourself as it’s a family forum) who was doing more sniping than the coalition Forces in Helmand Provence.

The Stags scrum was creaking under the pressure of the large PL pack but they were doing well in the lineout where Mark Johnstone had his best game to date securing good ball for Joe to zip out to the lively Davy Wilson at 10.  The Dream Team were too ‘tight’ in the 1st half failing to release Mair, CJ or Adam who had the gas to cause problems.

Peep Peep and it was time for the half time oranges and some words of encouragement from the coach.  Davy Wilson was given a few Diazepam to calm him down such was his excitement at the performance.  Throw it about more please was the coaches direction.

Peep Peep and off we went with Gav Scott in the back row to bolster the pack and we were steadily clawing our way into the game as PL tired and struggled with the speed of the game.  However, when their pack floundered, the back division marshalled their defensive lines well to stem the flow of Stags attacks where a combination of wrong options and good defence frustrated the youngsters.

Oh, should have said, they looked spiffing in their natty new ‘Traditional’ GRFC strips, sporting the splendid black and red stripes much to the delight of the old geezers who could remember the days of stripes from the past.

As we pressured, the PL team began to infinge more often and it was from one such ‘slowing down’ of the breakdown that Nitemair stepped up to chip over a 30m penalty to level the scores and it was game on.  This spurred PL and they came back into the game and it became all very even again.  It has to be said that both teams created opportunities but struggled to cope with the greasy underfoot conditions however Nitemair, Paul Burns and Scott Noble were causing havoc in the PL defence with their excellent counterattack and only a case of wrong boots syndrome (mouldies in the mud!!) by Gav Scott prevented him from celebrating his comeback with a 50m run where he beat about 28 players and while stepping the fullback he skidded a good 10 yards away from the support and it fizzled out quicker than a bottle of Lidl Champagne.

With 10 mins to go a series of good rucks led to PL mounting an attack on the Dream Team line where they used their superior bulk to score.  After a number of big hits there was nothing to stop the PL juggernaught, sporting the No.3 jersey and at least 20 stones of bulk and pace as he squeezed over from1m out.  The conversion was neatly clipped over to give them a 7 point lead.

To their credit, it was all stags in the last 10 as they desperately sought that try and with the last move of the game the ball was spilled in attack with the line at their mercy.  Peep Peep when the whistle and ra ra ra to all concerned.

It was an upbeat Dream Team who left the field proud of their performance if not disappointed by the loss.  In fairness PL edged the 1st half and the stags squeezed the 2nd and a draw would have been a fair result all round.

Special mention goes to Joe, Ally and Danny who played for the colts before assisting the Dream Team.  As previously stated, there are some developing future GRFC superstars in this team and with a little time and maturity they will surely be pushing for 1st team honours.

This week the Dream Team take to the road with a trip to Ross High.

Man of the Match:

1- Ally Brown

2- Mark Johnstone

3- Danny Ward

Who are all young men showing a great spirit and were ably supported by the elder statesmen of Scotty N, DA and Nitemair who too had fine games.