Match Report from: CONOR PALMER

The Annan 1st XV made the journey to Dalziel Park on Saturday afternoon for their latest West Division 1 fixture — a venue that has rarely been kind to them over the years. Despite high hopes, it looked like history might repeat itself early on.

Within 20 minutes, Annan found themselves 12–0 down and struggling to find rhythm, as Dalziel capitalised on a sluggish start from the visitors. However, the Annan lads showed real character to fight their way back into the contest.

A superb solo try from Aaron Carmichael, slicing through the Dalziel defence, put Annan on the board, before young Rohan Cother added a second soon after. Both were converted by Josh Whiteside, giving Annan a narrow lead as the first half ended with the visitors on top.

Early in the second half, Josh extended the lead with a well-struck penalty 12–17 and things got even better when Bradley James powered over for his second try of the season. Another conversion from Josh stretched the advantage to 12–24.

Dalziel refused to roll over, though, and hit back quickly to make it 19–24. Annan responded once more through a driving maul, with Kieran Warrick adding his name to the scoresheet. Josh added the extras to make it 19–31, before slotting another penalty to take the score to 19–34 as Dalziel’s discipline faltered.

But the home side weren’t finished. A late surge saw Dalziel claw back to 26–34, then 33–34 after a yellow card reduced Annan to 14 men. Tempers flared shortly after, with both sides seeing a player sent to the sin bin.

With just a minute to play, Dalziel’s relentless pressure told as they crossed again and converted to take the lead 40–34.

There was one last twist — Rohan Cother bagged his second try of the day in the dying moments, bringing the score to 40–39. Unfortunately, Josh’s conversion to snatch victory drifted just wide, leaving Annan agonisingly short of what would have been a great win.

A valiant performance and two points earned — but it will undoubtedly feel like three points slipped away.

Next up, Annan return home to Violetbank where they host high-flying Strathaven in what promises to be another big test

Annan Starting XV: Ryan Glass (C), Murray Forbes, Kieran Warrick, Frazer Hope, Rohan Cother, Mason Watret, Ryan Hetherington, Wallace Alexander, Zac Stevenson, Fraser McMillan, Bradley James, Josh Whiteside, James Kirby, Scott Norman, Aaron Carmichael,

Annan Subs: Callum Taylor, Eben Le Vin, Hayden Hodgson, Jack Vivers, Ewan Campbell (Not used), Aitken Render, Jonathan Callaghan