10/09/2026
⚫️⚪️ MATCH REPORT | ANNAN ATHLETIC LADIES 6–0 GRETNA FC 2008 LADIES ⚪️⚫️
Gretna Ladies made the short trip to Galabank on Wednesday evening for our rescheduled League Cup Group Stage fixture against Annan Athletic Ladies.
With illness, injuries and player unavailability, Gretna travelled with just 12 players. Unfortunately, due to a registration issue, one player was unable to be named on the team sheet, leaving us with 11 players and no substitutes available.
Annan opened the scoring after just 2 minutes. A handball was awarded around 20 yards from goal after the ball was deemed to have come off a Gretna player’s arm, with the resulting free kick converted to give the hosts an early advantage.
The second arrived in the 24th minute, when a slack pass from Gretna was punished by Annan, before the hosts added a third in the 29th minute.
Trailing at the interval, Gretna made a number of positional changes for the second half and threw caution to the wind, looking to take the game to Annan.
The changes had an immediate impact, with a much more attacking Gretna side coming out of the traps strongly and committing more players forward in search of a way back into the contest.
However, playing with that greater attacking intent inevitably left spaces at the other end, and Annan were able to pick Gretna off on the counter-attack, adding their fourth in the 56th minute.
The task became even more difficult around the 60-minute mark, when an injury reduced Gretna to 10 players. With no substitutes available, the team were forced to play the remaining half-hour a player down.
Annan added a fifth in the 63rd minute, but Gretna continued to push forward when opportunities arose rather than simply sitting in and trying to limit the scoreline.
The hosts completed the scoring in the 83rd minute, securing a 6–0 victory.
🎙️ Manager’s Thoughts
“We knew before kick-off it was going to be a difficult evening. We travelled with 12 because of illness, injuries and unavailability, and then found ourselves with only 11 eligible players and no substitutes because of a registration issue.
“We didn’t help ourselves with a couple of the goals. The first comes from a free kick after the ball is deemed to have hit an arm, and the second comes from a slack pass which gets punished.
“At half-time we made some positional changes and decided to throw caution to the wind. We weren’t going to just sit back and accept the scoreline. We came out much more attacking in the second half and tried to take the game to Annan.
“The downside of that was that we left ourselves more exposed, and Annan were able to pick us off on the counter. Then losing a player through injury around the hour mark meant we had to finish the game with ten and no possibility of making a change.
“The scoreline is disappointing, but I can’t question the effort or attitude of the players. Even when we went down to ten, they kept competing and kept trying to play. Sometimes you have to look beyond the result and recognise what the players were being asked to deal with.
“We’ll regroup, recover and turn our attention to Sunday.”
Congratulations to Annan Athletic Ladies on the victory, and we wish them well for the remainder of the competition.
Gretna now turn their attention to Sunday when Clydesdale Football Academy Women visit Raydale Park for the first meeting between the two sides.
Thank you to everyone who travelled to Galabank and supported the team. 🖤🤍
