Match Report - By Grant Hood

Brechin City and Annan Athletic must face each other again, this time in a replay at Glebe Park, to see who progresses into the next round of this season's William Hill Scottish Cup - and secure a potential route into the last eight.

Having made the trip to the far south west, City started without Aberdeen loanee Jamie Masson who was unavailable, but welcomed Alan Trouten back to the starting XI.

In a tepid first half, with few clear chances for either side, Alan Trouten narrowly missed the target with a quite audacious effort from well outside the penalty area, and Alex Mitchell in the Annan goal subsequently had a terrific save from Andy Jackson after good work on the left from Bobby Barr.

City took the lead three minutes before half-time. A diagonal Kyle McAusland free kick from midway inside the host's half was met by City full-back COLIN HAMILTON on the run, and he cleverly directed his header over the home keeper to give City the boost of an encouraging half-time lead.

The second half started with City trying hard to find a second and potentially decisive goal, and although City forced a few corners, this pressure failed to generate any clear cut chances.

Unfortunately for City, an ineffective throw-in in the Annan half led to the Galabankies breaking away down their right flank and, with the City defence stretched, an accurate cross found ex-City signing Matty Flynn well positioned to gleefully fire home past Graeme Smith and level the tie with 30 minutes to play.

The match flowed from end to end for a time, albeit with City having the better of the chances. Top scorer Alan Trouten drove narrowly over the bar, after latching on to a through ball and shooting from the edge of the penalty box.

In addition to a number of goalmouth incidents where the hosts worked hard to deny City clear shooting opportunities, Andy Jackson was thwarted late on when a strike from a similar position to Trouts' earlier attempt thundered back off the Annan keeper's right hand post.

With time running out, the City management team resisted the temptation to make substitutions, and the tie reached a conclusion amongst an array of heroic defensive blocks, ineffective final passes and relatively comfortable goalkeeper saves at both ends.

Both sets of supporters will doubtless consider that their favourites might just about have done enough to secure themselves a place in the last 16 - in Annan's case, for the first time.

However the final whistle blew to dictate that, as has been the case in every other meeting between the 2 clubs, the initial Cup Tie resulted in a replay. The City faithful will be hoping that the current squad can replicate the previous outcomes with a Brechin City replay victory.

City had 18 attempts on goal, with 10 on target. Kyle McAusland is credited with an assist to Colin Hamilton's goal.

The draw for the next round will take place on Monday at 2pm, and will feature well-known former Premiership manager Owen Coyle, SFA Vice President Alan MacRae and Eddie Thompson representing the tournament sponsors, William Hill. It can be viewed live on Sky Sports News.

The replay will take place at Glebe Park on Tuesday 9th December, with a 7.45pm kick-off.