Saints Rugby win title decider

Saturday saw a winner takes all clash on the hallowed turf of University Park between Caledonia 2 Midlands leaders Grangemouth Stags and St Andrews. Going into the game, the Stags […]


Saturday saw a winner takes all clash on the hallowed turf of University Park between Caledonia 2 Midlands leaders Grangemouth Stags and St Andrews. Going into the game, the Stags were unbeaten, whilst the Saints had lost just one game, against Grangemouth at the beginning of the season. The Saints had also narrowly lost to their opponents in a cup game in December and were gunning for revenge. Although the ‘Mouth had a formidable defensive record, having conceded just 94 points in the preceding 16 games, the Saints were quietly confident they could open the Stags up by playing some vintage champagne rugby on the vast expanse of University Park.

The teams came onto the pitch well supported by a partisan crowd. The 3rd XV Azzurri led by Gino di Castri had played, and beaten, Heriot Watt earlier in the day and rushed back from Edinburgh in order to cheer on their 1st XV counterparts. Although in a rush to return, they still had time to stock up on Tennant’s and strawpedos and were thoroughly shit-faced by the time the 3 o’clock kick off came round. The raucous crowd were well and truly the 16th man for the whole of the game, cheering on their comrades on the pitch and abusing Grangemouth. Favourite chants heard throughout the game were “You fat bastard” directed at their fat bastard prop and general jeering at the Stags’ full-back who had hands like cows’ udders and didn’t catch a high ball all day. The banter was not appreciated by a Grangemouth coach who claimed after the game it was unsportsmanlike and against the spirit of the game. Then again, maybe he was just a bitter after his team had been pulled apart by a far superior University of St Andrews.

Even after losing the services of maverick prop Jake Starkey on the Wednesday before the title decider, the Saints started well. They dominated the breakdown and made some hard yards in the backline through shit lidded inside centre Dan Anderson. The pressure from the Saints finally paid off when Sean ‘Beano’ Murchie touched down. His Welsh girlfriend had made the admirable decision to watch her beau fly down the wing for St Andrews instead of watching her home nation complete a Grand Slam. It’s good to know she has her priorities in order. The kick was excellently converted by full back, and captain for the day, Scott Lang. The Saints continued to make Grangemouth look particularly average and managed to grab another try through Jack Hannay, whose other fine moments in St Andrews include this gem at 2:09. A great fresher on the whole.

The second half saw the Saints playing with the same intensity, yet a couple of mishaps led to the Stags pulling a try back. It was now squeaky bum time for the boys of Fife but they remained firm. This was helped by the strange case of the Grangemouth lock taking over kicking duties with unrivalled incompetence. The introduction of Messrs. Little and Rogers brought an added energy to the pack and the Saints crossed the line for a third time. With their momentum, the Saints pushed hard for another score and duly delivered when maestro Hannay scored his second of the game. The Stags managed to score another try towards the end but that was mere consolation for the team who had their title hopes dashed by the Saints’ 26-12 victory.

With one game to play, the Saints now top the table by three points. A win over what should be a fairly average Kinross team on Saturday will guarantee their status as league champions. Come down to University Park on Saturday to see the Saints get presented with their trophy and hopefully see the same incredible scenes.

After this Saturday’s game, the Saints will play a two-legged glamour fixture against Moray; the winner will join the delights of Caledonia 1 and have the pleasure of playing away fixtures at Orkney and Glenrothes. Which will be great. No, really it will.