A bitter pill to swallow was how The Stags Captain, Ross McKechan, summed up the Playoff final against Bristol Saracens at The BASC Ground on Saturday afternoon.

The Stags had Storm Hannah behind them in the first half who played a big part for both teams throughout the game.
Saracens started the game with good intent and went through several phases in The Stag’s half but were lazy at one of the breakdowns as they were penalised for holding on to the ball. 

Tim Piper kicked deep to find touch but the lineout was lost. A passage of play went bye for Saracens and The Stags were awarded a scrum for a knock on and with possession back, The Stags passed the ball down the line out to Ryan Beard on the wing who scored the first try of the game. 5-0.

Saracens replied shortly after with a penalty 5-3 but The Stags were soon back in the Sarries half. Some quick thinking by Piper with a tap ‘n’ go opened up the Sarries defence and with Ash Cutter in support, Piper passed to Cutter who scored The Stags second try which Piper converted 12-3.

Saracens were dogged in the loose and made the breakdown difficult at times which slowed the ball down for The Stags and various infringements were made by both teams for periods of the game.

With ball in hand, The Stags looked dangerous in open play. A penalty was awarded to The Stags for a Stamp to the body of Jim Havercroft, which resulted in a yellow card for the offender and Piper kicked to touch. The Lineout was won and Sam Lewis spotted Will Hopkins running at pace who caught the ball and broke through the line to score and extend the lead shortly before half time 17-3.

With Storm Hannah now in Saracens favour for the second half The Stags found themselves receiving the ball many times from kicks deep within the Sarries half. This gave them plenty possession of ball and as they worked there way up the pitch with various phases a scrum was had and Sam Lewis gathered the ball from the base of the scrum, went blind and squeezed through two defenders to score. Piper converted 24-3.

Many would of thought that Sarries heads would of dropped but it was completely the opposite as they replied with soon after by scoring there first try 24-8.

With Hannah in The Stags faces the pace of play for the home team slowed and Sarries sensed this as they began to bang on door once again. Persistence paid off for the visitors as they managed to find a way through The Stags defence and scored a second converted try. 24-15.

The momentum of the game changed at this point and Sarries clawed another 3 points back with a penalty with approximately 15 minutes to go. 24-18.

The Stags soon realised what was needed and by keeping possession and gaining territory they found themselves camped in Sarries 22. A penalty was given for offside close to the 5m line and a scrum was chosen. Sarries were penalised again in the scrum and The Stags opted to scrum again. It was at this point  things changed. The Stags were moving forward in the scrum but were penalised themselves and lost possession of ball when it mattered.

Sarries cleared out the 22 area with the help of Hannah and found themselves back in The Stags half but no possession of ball from the lineout. The Stags had ball in hand but during open play a pass was intercepted by a Sarries player who then kicked the ball from hand  and managed to outpace The Stags last man and pounce on the loose ball over the line close to the posts. The try was converted and Sarried had taken the lead 24-25.

With only a couple of minutes left on the clock The Stags were unable to make anything of it and the final whistle was blown.

The loss meant that The Stags will remain in the Somerset Premier next season but we all must remember that the last 8 months have been ones to remember for years to come.

We go again!!!