Annan’s positive start to their West Division 1 campaign came to a juddering halt in Motherwell last Saturday as they were thumped by Dalziel.

“It was bitterly disappointing to be honest,” said Annan coach Juan Phyfer. “Nothing went to plan. The bus got caught in traffic and we were 30 minutes behind schedule and that affected us.

“We just got beaten up up front by their forward pack. We missed a lot of tackles amd defensively we were pretty poor which was upsetting.”

Annan’s points came from an Aitken Render try and Josh Whiteside conversion.

“First half we were 26-0 down which wasn’t great and then in the second half we lost Fraser McMillan from a bit of whiplash in a tackle and it was a tough one to lose our No 10. There were another couple of yellow card [after similar last weekend]. Ryan Glass was harshly penalised for a high tackle.

“It was a very frustrating day for us. But there were some performances that pleased me, though they maybe didn’t feel it on the day. Josh Whiteside controlled things well, James Morrison came in and gave a good first game after playing for the 2nds last week, Ryan Hetherington again and our best of the lot was Aitken Render who scored a great try.”

Annan return to Violetbank on Saturday when they host Lenzie, who beat them last year in the corresponding fixture but Annan still have a decent record against the East Dunbartonshire club.

Annan starting XV : 1. R Glass 2. M Forbes 3. K Warrick (C) 4. J Morrison  5. G Anderson 6. E Le Vin 7. W Alexander 8. R Hetherington  9. J Whiteside (VC) 10. F McMillan 11. A Torbett 12. J Kirby 13. A Carmichael  14. B Latimer 15. A Render

Annan Subs: 16. C Bell 17. C Taylor 18. J Phyfer 19. E Campbell 20. A Jones