Stewartry cemented their grip on Tennent’s West Division One with a thumping victory over local rivals Annan.
The 47-0 scoreline at windswept Greenlaw opened up a five point gap on second placed Garnock as the Blacks ran up their 29th league point out of a possible 30 from their six games so far.
The match was also the first leg of the Chisholm Cup which has been in the Greenlaw trophy room for the past two seasons.
Again the crossfield wind offered no advantage to either side and Annan were quickly off the mark winning the first lineout.
The Blacks soon found their stride though with Hogg taking possession after Annan cleared a penalty to touch and TJ McCarney’s charge set up a scrum for Stewartry.
With the pressure intensifying captain for the day Angus Lindsay was stopped just short of the line in the corner.
Hogg, back from injury, spearheaded a move involving Armstrong and McCarney that saw David Maxwell crash over for the opening try in fourteen minutes. Andrew Picken, covering for brother John who was out with a head injury, added the extras, 7-0.
Four minutes later, Hogg’s quick penalty produced a second, Picken again converting, 14-0.
A forward drive ended with Armstrong going over in 23 minutes to make in 19-0 shortly before Annan had a man yellow carded for a high tackle.
Hogg barged his way through for his second and the bonus try, Picken again converting, 26-0, and Fraser, McCarney and Mick McCulloch combined to put Lindsay in for the fifth try, Picken adding the points to make the half time score 33-0.
Blackening skies and heavy rain saw the teams playing the weather as well as each other after the break. Hogg took it in his stride though going over for his hat-trick five minutes in with Picken getting a rousing cheer for converting into the teeth of the storm.
With 15 minutes left Fraser grabbed the last try with Picken making it six out of seven conversions.
The final fifteen minutes were played in the Stewartry half as Annan, who suffered two yellows in the match, tried to get a consolation but were denied by a well drilled defence.
It was another exciting game as both teams went for the win from the start. Stewartry now have a record six wins over Annan since September, 2019.
The match sponsors were Tarff Valley and Saint & Co.
Stewartry squad: T McLean, F Barne, M McCulloch, J McCulloch, D Maxwell, S McCulloch, A Lindsay (c), S Hogg, A Nicholson, D Armstrong, A Moffat, TJ McCarney, R Austin, F Forsyth, A Picken, A Mathias, F Gibson, K McGuire, S Milligan.
