Antrim crack Carrick’s defence with 5 try’s unanswered. With Antrim travelling to Carrick to close the gap at the top of the table it was important for the Antrim lads to come home with all 3 points.
The start of the game saw Antrim kick off and playing into the wind they had it all to do. With a strong forward pack Antrim had the Carrick pack backpedalling and soon saw the ball back on the Antrim side. With Antrim moving the ball between the forwards and backs testing the Carrick defence Antrim were soon in a dominate position to attack.
The Antrim forwards turned on the gas and mauled their way up to ten meters from the Carrick line. With Neil Manson playing at scrumhalf passed the ball out to Dave McKee at 10 who crash through a couple of Carrick players before offloading to Manson on a looping run and crash over for Antrim first try unconverted Antrim lead 5-0.
With the wind blowing into Antrim’s face it was all up to the forwards to carry Antrim back into the Carrick half with the Dave Sharp, Cathal McSorley and Mark Perry crashing the ball into the Carrick backline giving the Antrim backline a chance to spread the ball wide to see Gary Smith break through the centre of the park and with John Bull their to tidy up Antrim were just outside the Carrick 22 and graining a penalty. Kicking to the corner Antrim looked set to extend their lead only for the wind to interfere with the ball and saw Carrick clear their lines.
With Antrim back in there own half and Carrick on the attack, Antrim’s Darren crooks tackle saw Carrick knock on. With the scrum on the Halfway line Neil Manson picked up from the back of the scrum and broke for the line with Two players to bet he sidestep inside and touched down for Antrim’s second try, converted Antrim lead 12-0 and shortly after came the end of the first half and a well dissevered lead.
Second half saw Antrim with the upper hand with the wind behind them they were able to play the territorial game and keep Carrick pinned back in their own half.
Antrim started to maul their way up the pitch with crash balls from Gavin Wilson, Steve Carins and Robert Nimmo breaking the Carrick line before Manson broke for the line once more and just meters from the line past it out for Dave Sharp to crash over and converted Antrim lead extended to 19-0.
The restart was gathered by Cathal McSorly who went on a surging run splitting the Carrick defence before getting tackled into touch just inside the Carrick half. From the line Carrick looked set to attack only for the quick reactions of Darren crooks saw the Carrick Scrumhalf smashed and landed about two meters over the touchline. From the lineout Antrim set a solid maul and with Billy Smith at the forefront the Antrim pack made a good 20 meters before the ball was ship to the backs and with the Lenford Christie like pace saw Dave McKee touch down under the posts, converted Antrim’s lead was now 26-0.
With the game in Antrim’s sights Antrim brought on Ricky Robb and Adam Finlay for Billy Smith and Gavin Wilson. With a loss ball Carrick had the opportunity to counter attack and a solo run from their 10 was with an arm reach of the try line only for a great tackle from Gary smith and Antrim’s quickness to the ball saw Antrim back in position and opted to run and with great interlinking play between backs and forwards saw Ben Siri break for the line and dive over in the corner, unconverted the game finished at 31-0.
It was a very positive performance from every player. Final score Antrim 31 Carrick 3s 0. Although every player gave it his all, Man of the Match was awarded to Dave Sharp
