The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV lost by 21 points to 15 away to Larne on Saturday 10 December. In what is now becoming a familiar pattern, Carrick dominated possession and territory in the first half ,but did not take their chances , and then allowed Larne to totally dominate the second half. Although there were some strange refereeing decisions( to put it politely!),most of which went against Carrick, they cannot blame this for their defeat. In the end, it was down to far too many errors, partly in decision making and partly in execution, and a high penalty count. The game generally was disjointed, partly as a result of the bitterly cold conditions and frequent injury stoppages. Not surprisingly things got heated from time to time and there were three yellow cards although the reason for the first one is a complete mystery!
Carrick took control in the early stages of the game, most of which was played in the Larne half of the field. However, the best early chance fell to Larne when they ran the ball out of their 22 but kicked when it looked like they had a four on two situation about thirty mteres out. Carrick pressure eventually told though when Andy McIlroy put over a penalty after fifteen minutes. Ten minutes later it looked as though they would go further ahead when Danny Flowers went in at the corner but the try was disallowed for a double movement. Shortly afterwards, the visitors had another opportunity, set up by a great tackle by Andy McIlroy which caused a turn-over, but they could not get the ball wide quickly enough to take advantage of Larne’s defensive disarray. In injury time, Carrick finally got reward for their territorial dominance when Andy McIlroy went over following a move which went through a number of phases and left the home side’s defence stretched. McIlroy added the conversion to gave Carrick a 10 points to nil lead. However, with yet more injury time being played, Larne put over a penalty on the stroke of half-time following one of their rare visits to Carrick territory.
The second half saw a complete reversal of roles. Larne now dominated territory, under the direction of their two half-backs, and, increasingly, possession. After four minutes they converted a second penalty and ten minutes later took the lead with a converted try. Missed tackles by Carrick allowed Larne to breach the defensive line and their open-side was given a clear run to the line. For virtually all of the rest of the half, Larne were in control. They had a number of chances through penalties to go further ahead but missed a couple before they finally put one over to take a 16 points to 10 lead after twenty-five minutes of the second half. Five minutes later, they made victory secure when their out-half made an outside break to put his winger in at the corner. This time, the try was not converted. In injury time, Carrick got a consolation score when David McKeen picked up to force his way over after Karl Quinn had been pulled down just short of the Larne line. The try was not converted to leave Larne victorious by 21 points to 15.
Carrick now have three weeks to reflect before their next match which is at home in the Towns’ Cup on 7 January.
The Carrick team against Larne was:
A. McIlroy; D. Flowers, K. Quinn, J. Wady, K. James; A. McKinney, M. Patterson; A. Gibney, G. Baxter, D. McKeen(Capt), A. Kincaid, C. Ferris, C. Rea, N. Marsden, M Patterson.
Fixtures for Saturday 17th December are:
2nd XV vs Ballymoney II, home
4th XV vs Malone V, away
5th XV vs Ballynahinch VI, away
