Stags lose out as weather hits league fixtures

Winter arrived with a vengeance on Saturday, wiping out all but one of the fixtures in the Midlands area.

In the lone match to beat the frost, Grangemouth Stags made the long journey to face basement side Banff in BT Caledonia Division One.

The pitch was declared playable, although a covering of snow and a biting wind made conditions far from ideal for running rugby.

And it proved to be a disappointing trip as the Glensburgh men suffered a 17-16 defeat.

The home side had failed to record a win in their opening seven matches and this success was reward for the hard work of the club members in ensuring the pitch was fit for the game to go ahead.

The sides reached the interval locked at 10-10, with David Harvey dotting down for Stags and Thomas Skelton booting the conversion as well as a penalty.

However, the visitors could add only two penalties by Skelton in the second half while the hosts snatched the win when they scored a converted interception try.

That left Stags facing the long haul home with only a narrow defeat bonus point to show for their efforts.

The BT National 1 clash between Falkirk and Dundee High, Howe of Fife’s home meeting with Falkirk in National 2 and Perthshire’s trip to Gordonians in National 3 were postponed due to frozen pitches.