In somewhat wet conditions Kilmarnock faced a powerful Annan side at Bellsland last Saturday in the second round of the West Regional Shield Competition and were worthy winners 21-19 in a tense match. It took the home side all of 35 seconds to score the opening try. Annan kicked off and the ball was taken by winger Chris Milligan who charged up field avoiding tackles and passed to scrum half Connor Turnbull in support to score, Colin Sturgeon converted 7-0 to the home side. Kilmarnock continued to attack in the next few phases of play with Johnny Bradford returning at centre and adding a bit of venom in the midfield. After 15 minutes of play Kilmarnock edged further ahead when Turnbull fed to stand-off Ali Mcwhirter who shipped a pass to winger Paul Ramsay who ran in from short ranger to score ion the corner, Sturgeon missed from long range leaving Kilmarnock 12-0 ahead. The treacherous conditions made handling difficult and both teams played a kicking game, from a knock on at the tail of the lineout Annan won two scrums to take the upper hand however a turnover by Cammy Allison let Sturgeon break with Dave McLeod and Graeme Dick in support leading to a penalty for Kilmarnock converted by Sturgeon. 15-0 ahead Kilmarnock then were put under pressure straight from the restart with Annan winning and converting a penalty, 15-3.
The restart kick was field by the Annan hooker who passed to his scrum half who kicked up field, a wild pass from Kilmarnock saw full back Greg Montgomery swamped by the opposition who swiftly passed the ball out the backline to score their opening try. No conversion Kilmarnock reeled back to a 15-8 lead after half an hour.
Kilmarnock were shaken and Annan were stirred into attacking mode with Kilmarnock loosing lineout and scrum ball. The Annan side attacked with their outside centre forcing play into the home 22 area and an offside against Kilmarnock gave Annan a penalty to close the first half. 15-11. The heavens opened and the brave touchline supporters scurried to the stand for shelter.
The second half started and the rain ceased, both sides battled for possession and in a rare occurrence Annan were penalized for a squint feed at the scrum, Kilmarnock should have had a numerical advantage following a late tackle on Sturgeon but gained only territorial advantage, the Kilmarnock lineout was lost and Annan mounted a number of attacks with Kilmarnock defending fiercely. A long range penalty paid dividends and Annan closed to within one point 15-14 after quarter of an hour.
Kieran Grant replaced Dave McLeod and Tom McMichael replaced Graeme Dick.
From the restart Kilmarnock responded with a number of attacks by both forwards and backs and won a penalty which Sturgeon converted 18-14 to Kilmarnock.
Sam Diamond joined the scrum and later Wilkie Farquhar replaced the towering Taylor McHarg in the second row. The pristine jersey of Farquhar was soon conspicuous as he put himself about the field with some crunching tackles and forward rushing. Annan conceded another penalty for entering the ruck from the side and Sturgeon once again converted to give Kilmarnock a 21-14 lead. In the remaining 15 minutes Annan had most of the possession and Kilmarnock were tested in defence. Stuart Kerr came on to replace Turnbull with Greg Montgomery filling the scrum half position. With four minutes remaining Annan scored a push over try to make the score 21-19. The stand-off missed the conversion to put the game into extra time leaving Kilmarnock hanging on.
Kilmarnock were given a penalty for a deliberate knock on and kicked up field into Annan territory and after two scrums time ran out for the visitors leaving Kilmarnock winners 21-19 and enter the semi final of the competition.

Coach Robbie Stewart was well pleased with the much improved performance from the team naming prop forward Michael Kidd man of the match. A two week lay-off due to internationals will allow Kilmarnock to gather their strength for the next league match against Garnock on Saturday 1st December Kick-off 2.00pm