Ardrossan 1st XV v ANNAN 1ST XV
WEST REGION DIVISION 1
4TH MAY 2024
Match Report from: Gus Robertson
A changed 1st XV squad of just 17 travelled to Ardrossan for their final league match of the season. Player injury, unavailability and a couple of late call offs meant a tough task was made even tougher.
Annan were still in the relegation mix heading into the match as if Strathaven managed to win their last match against Oban then Annan would need at least 2 points to stay in West 1 for next season
The Oban v Strathaven match was unexpectedly pushed forward to 1pm on Saturday which mean Annan had the added bonus of knowing what the would need to do before their match kicked off at 3pm. That match ended in a 45-31 win for Oban, which meant Annan were safe from relegation before they had even kicked off.
The result of the Ardrossan match therefore didn’t matter in the big scheme of things but a hard day at the office was expected for Annan as the home side were wanting to finish the season undefeated.
And that’s what it turned out to be.
The young Annan side gave it their all but Ardrossan showed once again why no one had beaten them this season.
The home side scored 5 unanswered tries before half time to take a 35-0 lead and the match was effectively over.
The 2nd half Annan were just playing for pride and they did score 2 tries thanks to prop Ryan Glass, his 1st and 2nd tries of the season
The team played a lot better in the 2nd half but Ardrossan scored 4 more tries to take the final score to 59-10
So Annan remained in 9th spot but will be playing West 1 rugby next season.
Results wise it has not been the greatest season but with 7 wins from 18 its something to build on for next season
With the exception of Ardrossan, who were unbeaten all season, every other team in the league were beating each other and a lucky bounce or successful kicks that were not given Annan could have ended up in the top half of the table.
But that’s by the bye and the players can now look forward to a hopefully more successful West 1 campaign next season
Annan Starting XV: 1 Ryan Glass 2 Murray Forbes 3 Kieran Warrick 4 James Morrison 5 Callum Taylor 6 Frazer Hope 7 Murdo Bruton 8 Stewart Livingston 9 Josh Whiteside 10 Fraser McMillan 11 Euan Watson 12 Alex Halliday 13 James Kirby 14 John Glendinning 15 Aitken Render
Annan Subs: 16 Wallace Alexander, 17 Lex Stevenson
MATCH PHOTOS
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Individual highlights
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FULL MATCH
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