Saturday saw another local derby for the Falkirk 2XV, as Grangemouth 2XV visited Sunnyside in the BT Caledonia Midlands League 3. This was the return fixture and Falkirk again fielded another young inexperienced team. However, Grangemouth were much changed from the last game and fielded many of their 1XV players.

With the wind at their backs. Grangemouth experience showed with their centre pairings kicking for field position the pressure was on the Falkirk defence. The home team valiantly held out but some missed tackles gave the visitors an overlap and they duly scored the opening try in the corner.

Falkirk came more into the match but lacklustre kicking and passing by the home team was giving the visitors easy possession. On the attack deep in Grangemouth 22 Falkirk again gave the ball away, Grangemouth kicked it long, wind assisted it was quickly in the Falkirk danger zone. Inexperience in the back three failed to clear the Falkirk lines and the ever dangerous Grangemouth backs took advantage and scored their 2nd try.

Falkirk continued to be wasteful and it was another mistake that gave away possession and Grangemouth punished with another easy score. Falkirk continued to fight to get out of their half but the strong wind and relentless kicking by the visitors kept them at rooted in their half. With the first half drawing to an end, Falkirk spilled the ball in contact and Grangemouth duly accepted the invitation to score.
The beginning of the 2nd half was much of the same with Falkirk giving away easy possession and allowing the visitors good field possession with the result of another soft try.

Falkirk began to use their heads and use the wind, kicking for field position and exerting pressure on the visitors defence, Grangemouth were now giving away penalty after penalty in their efforts to keep the home team at bay. Eventually the pressure told and Falkirk scored a converted try, soon after Falkirk scored again.

With their confidence high Falkirk forgot the game plan that got them back into the game and returned to their wasteful ways giving Grangemouth easy possession and even easier scores.

Final Score: Falkirk 12 v Grangemouth 43

Experience can be a game changer and the players that Grangemouth brought in for this match made a significant difference to the outcome of this game. The first half was a prime example of this but saying that Falkirk execution in their skill set was not up to the standard of the previous week; something that will come with experience. All to often the players followed the ball and the breakdown was a mass of players, when the ball was not retained the Grangemouth backs had an open field to exploit, poor communication was at fault. The biggest error was in attack, players were being individuals and not working as a team therefore and wasting opportunities to score. On the plus side, the set piece functioned well and was a dominate factor in the game.