BT West One
GARNOCK 29
ANNAN 19
GARNOCK on Saturday went into this league clash at Lochshore looking for a repeat of their win a month earlier at Annan.
But the hosts were missing a few key players putting pressure on their reserve strength.
Playing towards Beith in perfect underfoot conditions, with the benefit of a slight wind, the visitors started brightly, and led 5-0 after five minutes. They turned over loose ball from a maul and flanker Drew Barnes dotted down.
Garnock had the better of the next 15 minutes without scoring but unfortunately lost centre Ewan Perry and standoff Gareth McCrorie with injuries. The team had to be re-jigged with Neil moving to stand-off, but this didn't affect their performance.
Garnock forwards started to dominate, winning all the line-outs and scrum half Keir Walker put in a neat kick to the left corner, where Stuart Wilson scored a try straight from the training ground. Keir Walker converted for Garnock to lead 7-5 after 25 minutes.
The pack continued to supply good possession to the backs and clever inter-passing let centre Fraser Brocket hand off two players to touch down in the left corner. Keir Walker added a penalty awarded for offside, making the half-time score 15-5 to Garnock.
After the interval, Garnock continued to have the best of the forward exchanges and in 55 minutes disrupted the Annan scrum. Wilson gathered the loose ball to score near the posts with Walker converting. Five minutes later Walker made an incisive break, unloading the ball to burly centre Danny Irvine, who was caught near the line. Walker dashed over for a try which he converted, securing a bonus point with Garnock leading 29-5 .
The home team seemed to go to sleep for the rest of the game, allowing Annan to run in two soft converted tries from Alex Halliday and Johnny Callaghan.
While the final scoreline flattered Garnock it still leaves them in third place.
GARNOCK: C Neil; M Richmond, E Perry, D Irvine, F Brocket, G McCrorie, K Walker, L Wynn, R O'Neil, M Shiells, L McGeachy, J Watson, D Ramsey-Miller, S Wilson, R Johnston, A Miller, J Miller, J Chapman, B Trodden.
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