CUMNOCK v ANNAN 1ST XV

“It was a very entertaining game,” said Phyfer. “That old cliche again but it was very much a game of two halves. “We lost the first half 19-3 and got killed a bit, we tried something differently defensively which didn’t work. It clearly didn’t work when we changed it again as we conceded a lot more points but there were a lot of positives to take.

“Coming away with a bonus point was reward for a huge effort where we got three tries in the last 15. The back row were outstanding, especially with young Eben Le Vin, who came in at 6, and Ryan Hetherington at No 8. Hetherington was joined by Alex Halliday, Euan Campbell, Kieron Warrick and Ryan Armstrong on the try-scorers list for Annan, with Ben Latimer kicking a penalty and two conversions.

“We had a few injuries and had used all our subs before 60 minutes,” added Phyfer. “So we dug in well and it would have been nice to close the gap and get a losing bonus as well as a try bonus.

“It’s not great that it was the second game in a row we’ve conceded more than 50 and our third this season, so that is not something we want to keep happening. But lots to look forward to in the coming year with some good players coming through. We should be further up the league than we are.”

Congratulations also to Kieron Watret who played for the 100th time for the 1st XV, 28 years after his 1st XV debut back in 1995!

1st XV starting team: 1 K Warrick, 2 S Haren, 3 J Graham, 4 F Hope, 5 K Watret, 6 C Bell, 7 R Armstrong, 8 R Hetherington, 9 B Latimer, 10 A Render, 11 J Kirby, 12 J Glendinning, 13 A Halliday, 14 E Campbell, 15 A Jancey

1st XV subs (all used): 16 M Forbes, 17 E Le Vin, 18 C Taylor, 19 M Bruton