Carrick ladies travelled to Letterkenny on Sunday to defend their current league title against a combined Finn Valley/Letterkenny side.
The match kicked off after a short referee-related delay, with the home side’s coach in charge of proceedings. An ankle injury to Carrick winger Marianne Breen saw Carrick drop to 11 players in the first 5 minutes, due to new league regulations.
Mid pitch was the battle ground for the first 10 minutes, where both sides fought for ground and possession, with Carrick winger Lyndsay Davidson breaking through to score a try. A missed conversion saw the score at 0-5. Play continued predominately in the Letterkenny half, with a more experienced Carrick side dominating in the scrums. Carrick continued their attack and a scrum on the 5 yard line allowed scrum half Lydine Wilson to charge over the line before the scrum had even broken, taking the score to 0-10. Carrick centre Arlene Devine’s disallowed try shortly after, due to a knock on, kept the score at 0-10.
Play continued mid-pitch and a break by the home team saw Carrick give away a penalty within their own 22, which was swiftly kicked and took the score to 3-10. An injury and delay-marred second half which saw Letterkenny/Finn Valley prop and centre require treatment, was kicked off by Carrick. An injury to Carrick winger Lyndsay Davidson had seen Them drop to 10 players for the last 10 minutes of the first half, returning with around 20 minutes to go.
In the meantime, an attack by the Carrick pack allowed captain Sabrina Higgins to push through to score a third Carrick try, converted by the boot of Arlene Devine to make the score 3-17. Letterkenny/Finn Valley fought hard to gain ground at the end of the second half, however the Carrick defence held up and the last play of the match was another disallowed try by winger Lyndsay Davidson, caused by a foot in touch. Final score 3-17.
Carrick ladies lived up to their lively reputation with a Hawaiian theme on the journey home, with the occupants of The Downtown bar in Letterkenny surprised to see so many grass skirts and bikini tops on a Sunday afternoon. They now sit second in the Ulster Qualifying League, topped only by last seasons league final rivals, Ballymoney, who visit Tom Simms Memorial Park on October 13th for what is guaranteed to be a physical encounter.
