AFTER a dismal run of league form to bring an end to 2025, Greenock Wanderers are out to make a fresh start when – weather permitting – they welcome Annan as their Fort Matilda first-footers this weekend.
Having made an encouraging start to life in West Division One, with three wins from their first four league matches, the men’s first XV have lost their last seven on the spin.
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That means they go into their first match of 2026 perilously close to the bottom of the table – and hoping that the recent cold snap which has rendered Fort Matilda unplayable might relent just in time to enable them to get a win under their belts on Saturday.
In fact, although the Wanderers lie seventh in the 10-team league, a 17-15 loss away to bottom side Cumnock in their final fixture of 2025 has left the Greenock men in the unhappy position of being potentially just one round of games away from dropping to the foot of the table.
Wanderers dug deep to win 24-20 away to Annan the last time the two sides met – though the Fort Matilda men have since lost seven league games on the spin, a run they’re keen to bring to an end on Saturday. (Image: Billy Carroll)
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Just five points separate the bottom four, and indeed, there are only seven points between all the teams in the bottom half of what is proving to be an incredibly tight division.
They can nonetheless take heart from the win they ground out against Annan when the two teams last met at Violetbank in September, with winger Brodie Stone scoring a try with the last play of the match to secure a 24-20 win in conditions which were only borderline playable.
That result, in fact, was the last time Wanderers secured a win, and even if it was a less-than-perfect performance against a very average Annan side, that victory still gives the Greenock men cause to go into this Saturday’s clash in a positive frame of mind.
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The current league standings have Annan two points and one place above Wanderers, with both teams having played, and won the same number of matches.
Wanderers’ seven-match losing streak included this 44-33 defeat away to Dalziel in November. (Image: John Dyer)
Indeed, the two sides have very similar records all round, with each having amassed eight bonus points, and Annan enjoying superiority in the standings only by virtue of a creditable 15-15 draw at home to Strathendrick back in November.
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Both teams, too, can take some heart from this Saturday’s fixture list, in which the three teams below them – Oban, East Kilbride and Cumnock – are all up against the top three in the form of Carrick, Strathaven and Lenzie respectively, and are therefore, at least on paper, unlikely to improve on their own positions.
That background knowledge, though, needs to be well and truly out of the minds of all of the Wanderers players, who must make sure their full focus on Saturday is on picking up a home win, and a convincing one at that.
Team selection for Saturday may not be easy, even though the second XV don’t have a fixture, as injuries picked up by a few players in the Boxing Day clash have yet to clear up, while other members of the squad will be sidelined by holidays and family commitments.
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Wanderers are out to start the new year on a positive note after losing their last seven league games of 2025, including this defeat at East Kilbride. (Image: Newsquest)
The forwards will be disrupted most, although former captain Lavelle is hoping to make a comeback to help out, while the backs will have McGroarty making a welcome return home to add his experience.
Wanderers have put the festive break to good use by putting in three good training sessions in an effort to make sure that home advantage this Saturday is not wasted and that they record a much-needed win.
Saturday’s match, if it beats the weather, gets under way at Fort Matilda at 2pm.
The Wanderers men’s first XV are sponsored by First Choice Catering, MMSEARCH, Holland House and Capa Audit.