Match Report

Report by David Hastie

Edinburgh City and Annan Athletic could not be separated on Tuesday night, with the Galabankies recording their first point against the home team in over two years. The Borderers made two changes from their heavy defeat against Elgin City, with Ryan Sinnamon replacing the injured Tony Fulton, and Owen Moxon coming in to replace Mark Docherty after an impressive second half performance at the weekend.

It was the hosts who got off to the better start and could have been in front within 30 seconds, with Livingston loanee Raffaele De Vita lofting a pass over the Annan defence, but Ouzy See could not lift the ball over the head of Mitchell, and it landed gratefully in his hands.

Annan were again caught out just a minute later, as City defender McIntyre played a long ball over the top to See. There was a hint of offside about the run, which was notflagged, however Cameron Clark got back and recovered well for the Bankies.

It looked like the visitors got the warnings and started to settle into the game. There was a lot of play coming from the right through Nathan Flanagan, who was causing the City defence all sorts of trouble on the right wing.

Annan had a great opportunity on 5 minutes, with a free kick lofted into the box from Owen Moxon, that was met by Tony Wallace, whose strike was blocked for a corner.

It was a performance similar to Saturday, in which Annan looked comfortable on the ball and, despite a slow start, were starting to dominate the game, with Moxon impressing in the centre of the park.

And the visitors could have felt themselves very unfortunate not to have a penalty after 10 minutes, with Tony Wallace appearing to be clattered in box, but referee Gavin Ross dismissed any claims.

Edinburgh City had glimpses of great play, with Ouzy See proving to be a nuisance up front, linking well with De Vita, whose low cross into the box was missed by everyone.

Both teams were deadlocked in midfield, with both keepers having little to do, and any shots on goal appeared to fall comfortably into their arms, with a Josh Campbell shot also flashing wide from the edge of the box.

The Galabankies’ best chance came right at the end of the half, when Ryan Sinnamon, back for his third spell with Annan, drove a pass to the feet of Iain Anderson. The latter then found the feet of Flanagan, but after some trickery his shot failed to trouble the keeper.

On the counterattack City drove up the pitch, with a Josh Campbell cross finding Ouzy See unmarked in the box, but his header was straight into Mitchell’s arms.

Half Time Edinburgh City 0-0 Annan Athletic

City came out from half time raring to go and looked the hungrier of the two teams. Raffaele De Vita had an early long-range strike sting the palms of Alex Mitchell who pushed wide for a corner.

The home side were pushing on; however, Annan were soaking up the pressure well, with multiple waves of attacks ending in little for Mitchell to do, the closest being a Josh Campbell shot flying over the bar.

So, it was perhaps a shock that Annan were to be the team to take the lead. After a good run of play the ball fell to Aidan Smith on the left side of the box. Driving forward towards goal, he was brought down, with referee Ross pointing to the spot.

Tony Wallace stepped up and bagged his first goal of the season, firing the ball down the middle, out of Antell’s grasp as he dived to the right.

Annan’s lead was short lived, unfortunately, and lasted a mere 5 minutes before the Citizens were level. A bit of head tennis saw the ball fall to the feet of Ouzy See, and the big striker made no mistake firing home to level up the scores.

Chasing a second goal, Annan made a few changes, replacing Anderson and Flanagan with Darren Christie and Max Wright. The duo made an instant impact, with Christie and Sinnamon linking up, with the latter sending a wonderful ball to the head of Wright, whose headed shot seemed destined for the top corner and an away win, however goalkeeper Calum Antell flung himself over to claw the ball away from the goal in acrobatic style.

Entering added time, Edinburgh were pushing forward looking for a dagger blow to the Bankies. Several free kicks threatened the Annan backline, but they showed great organisation and strength to ensure they went back to the Borders with a well-earned point.

Edinburgh City: C. Antell, C. Thomson, R. McIntyre, M.Laird (A. Black 87), D. Handling (J. Dishington 81), D. Jarvine, L. Hamilton, J. Campbell, O. See, J. Tapping, R. De Vita (L. Brown 53)

Subs Not Used: C Crane, D. Beveridge, S. Newman, R. Goodfellow, L. Henderson

Annan Athletic: A. Mitchell, R. Sinnamon, C. Clark, O. Moxon (K. Fleming 77), M. Douglas, L. Hunter, T. Wallace, J. Lowdon, A. Smith (D. Watson 93), I. Anderson (M. Wright 83), N. Flanagan (D. Christie 83)

Subs Not Used: B. Kinnear, R. Love, M. Docherty, A. McCaw, R. Currie

Referee – Gavin Ross Assistants – Steven Traynor, Tony Fullerton