Match Report from: Colin “Choc” Warrick

The Warriors final away match of the league phase of this seasons National Shield saw them visit Cartha Claymores.

Travelling with a squad of 21 the Warriors were looking to give an improved performance & hopefully bring home a deserved victory.

The Warriors got into their stride quickly with some string carries which allowed them to build some phases within the opposition half. The Warriors opened their account on 8 minutes when from a turnover the ball was moved to stand off Nicole Barlow who dummied her way through the line before beating the full back to score.

This score was swiftly followed by a 2nd with the ball being moved wide through the hands for outside centre Joanne Clark to race clear & score he 1st Warriors try.

With confidence flowing the Warriors kept pushing by however through a combination of dogged defence, some offloads & passes not going to hand they could not quite get over the line.

Once the Warriors realised that they needed to be patient & control the ball building phases that gaps would appear the scores began again, when in quick succession 2nd row Nicole Mullen, scoring her 1st Warriors try, flankers Erin Ewing & Ashley Clark and scrum half Niamh Ross all scored tries along with three conversions by Hannah Paterson.

Half time score: Cartha Claymores 0 v Annan Warriors 36

The 2nd half kicked off with the Warriors determined to continue their good work & control of the game knowing that if they did so the scores would continue to come, and continue to come they did with centre Hannah Paterson, 2nd row Rhianna Parker-Clevett , Captain Ashley Clark with her 2nd of the day & winger Amber Pattullo also with her 1st Warriors try, all scoring from distance with Hannah Paterson adding a further 3 conversions one of which was from the touchline.

With the result now out of sight the Warriors seemed to take their foot off the gas making some mistakes & giving away too many penalties which also resulted in a yellow card for Nicole Mullen, allowing the hosts to get on the scoreboard with a consolation try.

However, the final say went to the Warriors with winger Jane Stewart scoring in the corner to round off an emphatic victory.

Final score: Cartha Claymores 5 v Annan Warriors 67

All in all, a good performance with the hard work being put in at training on show, best in attack were Ashley Clark, Kayleigh Warrick & Hannah Paterson with Sword of the match going to 2nd row Nicole Mullen.

In defence Megan Cother, Nicole Barlow were to the fore with Shield if the match going to Joanne Clark.

So, with one game left against local rivals Wigtownshire Ladies on the 24th of March the Warriors are looking to take lots of learnings from this game & continue to work hard hoping to put a season ending performance in at Violetbank.

Annan team: E Jardine, M Brogan, M Cother, R Parker-Clevett, J Stitt, A Clark ©, E Ewing, K Warrick, N Ross, N Barlow, K Morrison, H Paterson, J Clark, S McCracken, J Stewart

Replacements (all used): J Graham, A Pattullo, A Clash, R Connell, N Mullen, A Chierchia