NEWTON STEWART U16 BOYS v ANNAN U16 BOYS

Match Report from: Coach Andy Render

Due to number of un-availabilities and loss of players Annan U16s travelled to Newton Stewart with a squad of 8 on Sunday.  With the opponents having a healthy squad of 18 NS loaned 5 players and a 13 aside Development Game over three 20min periods was played out.

From the start NS made use of the strong wind in their favour to press forward and but for some resolute defence and some sloppy handling could have been well ahead before finally breaching the Annan line. Three further tries were scored in the first third to make the score 24-0 to NS.

A change of loaned players and a swapping of ends was hoped would lead to a change in fortune but it was not to be and in the second period NS scored three unanswered tries to extend the lead to 43-0.

The NS players were swapped again and although they were now playing into the wind Annan had their best spell and Josh Halliday dived over to get a score which he also converted.

NS came back and scored two more tries to make the final score 55-7.

There can be no arguments on the result, NS showed good unity and had several powerful runners.  However each Annan player can be proud of their contributions – the last two weeks saw them on the dominant side of a scoreline so this will be a painful blow but much can be learned from these games and if those lessons implemented and the team grows together positives will come.

Notable performances on the day for Annan were Andy Shepherd who ran strongly, tackled well and ran himself close to standstill; and James Glendinning who appeared to be playing across every position outside the front row, showed excellent handling skills, won lineouts, tackled boys much larger than himself and is beginning to look comfortable at this level after stepping up over the summer.

Hopefully some of the lads who were unavailable this week can make games in future – starting next week with another trip along the A75 planned to Stranraer to take on Wigtownshire.  Details tbc.