Jake Porter, Carrick’s inspirational captain led his men onto the turf against unbeaten Dromore at Woodlawn in the Brewin Dolphin Cup quarter final on Saturday. It was not to be one of Porter’s sparkling performances but his team knew they would have to perform like their Irish international counterparts the previous weeks to gain a result.
Confidence was high and although “The Reds” couldn’t get their hand on the ball they defended fiercely and when Beggs fed Matt Fisher he ran 40m before being hauled down. Dromore regained possession but only 2 minutes later Cambridge fired a pass outside the “22” to half back partner Wallace who tore through the visitor’s defense and scored at the posts.
From the restart Carrick immediately launched another attack and Wallace sprinted clear and passed inside to Reece Berry who dotted the ball down between the posts for Wallace to convert.
A feature of the game was Carrick’s inability to field restart kicks and from this one, Carrick conceded a lineout and then a free kick and fell asleep as the Dromore hooker cruised in for a try. After a roasting from Wallace, again The Reds landed into the attack and Corey Kelly, Jake Gardner and Cody Surgenor all forced their way deep into the Dromore half before Kris Berry on the right wing scored in the corner.
Another poor restart put Carrick in trouble and some uncharacteristic missed tackles let Dromore back in the game for their out-half to convert. This was unfortunately for the Dromore team the last slip-up that the Carrick team was to make.
Carrick – already Ulster League Champions this season and last year’s cup winners turned up the heat and found a few more gears and Matty Fisher powered down the line and scored between the posts for a half time score of 22-12.
Goal-kicking is not a feature of Carrick’s armory but try scoring certainly is and the large crowd was treated to see a regal display in the second half in the sunshine. Dromore defended as if their lives depended on it but Carrick’s massive power simply blew them away. The Carrick Juggernaut rolled up the possession and the Berry boys on either wing scored two scorchers before Matt Fisher ran Dromore ragged for his second try of the game.
Ironically from the restart the Dromore out-half picked out Fisher from the kick off and the big man caught the ball where his teammates had failed previously; he took off on the left wing and sprinted to the line to score his hattrick try without anyone laying a hand on him. This prompted the referee to blow for full time with 7 minutes left on the clock. Full time score, Carrick 44-12 Dromore. Coach Jimmy McTeggart praised the boys on a massive victory and in criticizing his team’s poor record at fielding restarts wore a wry smile as he said, “We did of course get plenty of them!” Star man:- Matthew Fisher.
