BOTH the Annan U16 Girls and the U16 Boys won their respective cup competitions last week.
Unfortunately the U18 Boys Trophy match was conceded to Oban Lorne as the team was short of players due to injuries and holidays.
The U16 Hornets enjoyed a great derby win over Dumfries Girls a week past Thursday in the final of the U16 Girls Shield – on a night where the heavens opened and the match was played in some dreadful weather conditions up at Violetbank.
The Hornets opted to play into the wind in the first half and try and use it to their advantage. But Dumfries started well and caused Annan a few problems.
They took the lead but after that the home side, supported by their friends and family, ran rampant to run in ten tries throughout the 60 minutes to end up 56-14 winners.
It was a great advert for girls rugby in South West Scotland as both teams put on a display of great running rugby despite the dreadful conditions.
This U16 Girls teams have proven to be one of the best in Scotland this season. And it is credit to the players, coaches, team manager and parents for all their hard work throughout the campaign.
A TERRIFIC crowd turned out on a bright, windy Sunday at Violetbank for the U16 West Quaich final between Annan/Moffat and Lanark. And the combined side took the honours, winning 36-19.
Lanark opened the scoring, their scrum-half peeling off a rolling maul and falling onto the ball. This woke the local boys up and some powerful carries by Moffat loose-head prop Alex C provided the impetus for a quick fire double with tries from Ben R and Dan S. Ben R converted his try and Moffat’s Harry B the other.
The second half began with some fresh legs and both sides playing more freely and it did not take long for Annan/Moffat to extend their lead.
Scrum-half Bradley G popped up with the ball, scuttled his way through a gap in the defence and offloaded well to centre Andrew A who gladly accepted the freebie and scored beside the posts, Harry kicking another good conversion.
Archie D then scored a good solo try not too long after, barging his way though following a scrum infringement. Lanark soon found themselves down to 14 for repeated high tackles.
Ben R scored his second try from the penalty. Annan/Moffat dropped the ball from the resulting kick-off and Lanark hit back immediately, their muckle number eight breaking tackles to score under the posts.
However, Ben R then completed his hat-trick to put the game beyond doubt at 36-12, before Lanark scored a final consolation, their fly-half scoring and converting.
In the end, Annan/Moffat had too much for their opposition. Their second half dominance came from a strong defence which simply did not allow Lanark a foothold in the match.
