The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV completed the double over fourth placed Omagh with a 19 points to 5 win at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 9th March. In a match played in terrible conditions- with jerseys so covered in mud by the end that it was impossible to tell one team from the other- the Carrick pack came out on top in virtually all areas of the game and deservedly are credited with all three of Carrick’s tries. Playing into a strong breeze for much of the first half, Carrick did well enough with ball in hand to prevent Omagh from dominating territory. Unfortunately, it was the sort of day on which old-fashioned kick and rush rugby could pay dividends and Carrick almost paid the price on two occasions in the first half when they turned over ball in promising attacking situations and then finished up back in their own 22 defending desperately.In the second half, Carrick kept Omagh pretty well penned in their own territory apart from a five minute spell in the middle of the half but, with only a converted try in it until the last minute, could not let their guard drop because of the risk of a kick and chase try on the counter. For Carrick all of the pack performed exceptionally well, with the front row of Robbie Williams, Glen Baxter and Adam Gibney helping Carrick get the edge in the scrum, carrying tirelessly and putting in a lot of tackles.Andy Kincaid, Chris Rogers, Neil Hanna and Mark Patterson provided a solid line-out platform and all four did their share of carrying and putting in big hits. At No 8, Ryan McGonigle had a great game in the conditions, making a lot of yards for Carrick and deservedly scoring the second try. Behind the pack, scrum-half Kenny Topping had an outstanding game, despite coming in for some rough treatment from the visitors’ pack at times, and his kicking out of hand was excellent as was that of his half-back partner Johnny Sheriff.
Omagh started the game well and went 5 points up with a try after four minutes from a line-out catch and drive. However, despite facing a strongish breeze for much of the half, Carrick, playing with ball in hand, at least shared the territorial spoils with Omagh and, on two occasions, with line breaks by Johnny Sheriff and Adie Moore, could have scored had they shown a little more patience and just retained the ball. On both of these occasions the turn-over resulted in Carrick losing sixty metres as Omagh fly-hacked or kicked the ball deep into their territory. Half-time was reached with no further scoring and Omagh went into the break with a 5 points to nil lead.
Virtually from the kick-off for the second half, Carrick took the lead. After a John Anderson break, the forwards picked and drove and, after Glen Baxter had made good ground up to the Omagh line, prop Robbie Williams forced his way over. Johnny Sheriff added the points to give Carrick a 7 points to 5 lead. From then on, with conditions deteriorating, Carrick were pretty much in control and extended their lead after fifteen minutes of the half when Ryan McGonigle broke off from a driving maul and shrugged off a couple of defenders to dive over. This try was not converted and the visitors began to stage something of a fight-back but Carrick’s defence was solid and in the last fifteen minutes or so the home side’s territorial dominance was restored. They got their reward when Glen Baxter charged over in the dying minutes following good driving work by Ryan McGonigle. Johnny Sheriff added the conversion points to leave Carrick deserved winners by 19 points to 5.
This was a good, solid performance by Carrick and this young side has- in this match and in others including the narrow loss to Ballyclare- demonstrated that it has the potential for a much higher League finish next season.
The Carrick team was:-
A. McIlroy; A. Moore, J. Anderson, A. McKinney(Capt), K. Love; J. Sheriff, K. Topping; A. Gibney, G. Baxter, R. Williams, A. Kincaid, C. Rogers, N. Hanna, M. Patterson, R. McGonigle.
