ANNAN 1ST XV v DALZIEL 1ST XV
WEST REGION DIVISION 1
9TH SEPTEMBER 2023
Match Report from: Duncan Smith
Annan made it two wins out of two at the start of their West Division 1 campaign as they saw off the visitors from Motherwell at a balmy Violetbank on Saturday.
New player coach Juan Phyfer continued his positive impact at the club with the first try of the afternoon and was delighted to see his side notch another win.
“It was nice to grind it out in a match they might not have this time last season,” said the loosehead prop.
After winning their opener away at Kilmarnock, Annan welcomed Dalziel who had also got off to positive start to the season but it was the home side who forged ahead with the try and Josh Whiteside’s two penalties made it 11-0 after 15 minutes.
An emphatic 16-0 lead at the break was secured with a trademark try from veteran centre Alex Halliday.
The second half proved to be a different story as two tries from the visitors and two yellow cards for the hosts threatened to turn the score around completely but back to full strength Annan pulled clear again when captain Kieran Warrick in his 150th appearance for the 1st XV crashed over. Whiteside converted and made it 23-14 with just over five minutes to play.
Coach Phyfer is now looking forward to this week’s visit of Ardrossan.
“It’s a big one, a top of the table clash,” he said. “Someone’s unbeaten start is going to go. They’ll be big and stuffy so hopefully we’ll run them about a bit and put on a good show in front of our supporters.”‘
As well as that match this weekend, the 2nd XV are on the road to Strathendrick. 3pm KO
The U18 Boys are at home to Renfrewshire Raiders. 11.30am KO.
On Sunday, the Warriors take on Greenock Ladies at Violetbank, 2pm KO.
Starting XV: 1 Kieran Warrick (C) 2 Murray Forbes 3 Juan Phyfer 4 Frazer Hope 5 Ollie Ferdinand 6 Callum Bell 7 Callum Smith 8 Sean Haren (VC) 9 Fraser McMillan 10 Josh Whiteside 11 Andy McGreevy 12 Adam Torbet 13 Alex Halliday (VC) 14 James Kirby 15 Andrew Jancey.
Subs (all used): 16 Callum Taylor 17 Eban LeVin 18 Johnny Callaghan 19 Alex Jones
MATCH PHOTOS
Photos of the match can be found at Katie Morrison Photography
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Individual highlights
FULL MATCH
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