SPFL Tier 3, The Rock, 31/8/24.

Well. Here we are again.

Yet another draw.

And yet again coming from behind. Twice this time.

We were the better looking side in the early exchanges. Indeed Kelty really didn’t have an attack worthy of the name until they scored, a quick break showing an alarming fragility in our back line, waltzed through as if it were not there.

They looked extremely confident on the ball after that with a great awareness of where their teammates were and making seemingly blind passes. They were also very well organised defensively, always able to get a man in to make the crucial tackle or block. And if that failed their goalkeeper managed to make the save.

Not until the 43rd minute, after a few corners from the left had produced nothing, one from the right found Mark Durnan able to head in at the far post.

The second half followed a similar pattern. They scored when we lost the ball in midfield and worked the ball well into the area where the free guy stuck it through Brett Long’s legs.

It looked like the unbeaten run would end but then another Craig McGuffie corner was again headed in by Mark Durnan. That could almost have been a response to the immediately prior announcement of Durnan as man of the match. Personally I thought he was uncomfortable on the left of the centre back pairing.

Still, a draw against the team at the top of the league can’t be bad.

So it’s five league draws in a row now to start off the campaign (albeit with a Challenge Cup win against Berwick mixed in.) That sequence surely must be a club record.

But draws don’t get you up the league table. Not in these days of three points for a win. We really need to get one of those on the board.

There’s a break next week for the next round of the Challenge Cup, a long trip to Peterhead, before we’re down at Annan in a fortnight.

Brydekirk is a small village in Dumfries and Galloway, north of Annan.

The War Memorial is a granite cross with an embossed sword and inscribed, “Their Name Liveth for Evermore.” Below is, “1914-1918,” plus names from the Great War, “Our Heroic Dead” and, “France, Salonika, Dardanelles.”

From east. Inscribed, “They died that we might live,” names for the Great War and, “Italy, Egypt, Mesopotamia.”

From west. World War 2 names:-

Corporal J Beattie, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 27/6/1943, Age 27:-

Sergeant R Wilkin, Air Gunner, RAF, 8/9/1941, 27:-

Sergeant W Fleming, Pilot, RAF, 9/1/0/1944, Age 27:-

M Caviney, Stoker First Class, HMS Ranger, 16/3/1919, Age 26:-

Pilot Officer W Burt, RAF, 1/1/1943, Age 21:-

Private J Matthews, Durham Light Infantry, 28/2/1918:-

Lance Corporal D Tinning, Royal Engineers, 3/8/1942. Age 24:-

David Lewis Willacy, Sgt Pilot, RAF, killed on active service, 1/9/1941, aged 25:-

Robert Squince McCulloch, Lance Corporal, Highland Light Infantry, died of wounds in France, 21/2/1917, aged 21 years:-

Annan’s War Memorial is in the form of a soldier at ease with rifle.

The upper plinth is inscribed, “In memory of the men of the Burgh and Parish of Annan who fell in the Great War 1914 – 1918,” the lower “1939 – 45” and “Glorious their fate.”

From east. Great War names on upper plinth. World War 2 names and inscription, “Splendid Their Doom” on lower plinth. “Lest We Forget” picked out in iron rail surround at bottom:-

Reverse of memorial. Great War names on upper plinth. Second World War names on lower plinth plus inscription, “Honour them, and weep not.”

From west. Upper plinth bears Great War names, the lower has World War 2 names and the inscription, “Give them praise not pity,” with “Lest We Forget” on the iron surround rail:

This bench, which seems to have been erected by Annan Community Council, lies near the War Memorial:-

Lonsdale Cinema, Annan:-

Mianly verticals but a kind of rule of three in the doorway:-

The entrance is now to the rear:-

Police Station. Horizontals and verticals, stepped roof at corner. Its windows have been ruined.

Annan is a town in Dumfries and Galloway. It is named for the river which runs through it:-

That bridge is well-proportioned:-

View from bridge looking north:-

Somewhere in the park beyond is the remains of Robert Bruce’s motte and bailey castle:-

A statue of Bruce adorns the Town Hall:-

The Town Hall itself from a different angle:-

This is the view south from the bridge. Another bridge (a footbridge) can be seen to top centre right:-

We walked down to get a closer look (and eventually walked over it):-

The footbridge gave a good view of the old railway bridge over the River Annan. the railway is now disused:-

The new league season starts today at 3.00 at the Rock.

This must be the least I’ve looked forward to “the big kick-off” in years. The manager’s signings of new players (only three remain from last season) have not been inspiring to say the least. We look particularly light at centre back and up front. (The midfield’s not so promising either.)

I know we won at Annan but they weren’t very good on the day and we’ve been comprehensively thumped twice since.

I note taht today’s opponents Raith Rovers haven’t been setting the world on fire either but that’s no guide.

I hope to be proved wrong but at the moment I can only see a long, hard season – and struggle to avoid tenth and automatic relegation – ahead

Lochmaben is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland. It lies four miles west of Lockerbie.

Its War Memorial is a statue of a soldier of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers regiment with bowed head and inverted rifle and can be found at the south end of Main Street at the junction of Lockerbie Road (the A 709) and Annan Road (the B 7020).

Closer view. The inscriptions read, “To the glory of God and in ever grateful remembrance of the men of this parish who gave their lives in the Great War 1914-1919,” “Their name liveth for evermore” and “Lo. These are they from suff’rings great.”

Reverse view. “And in memory of those who died in the second great war 1939-1945 ”