On Saturday 23 October, Carrickfergus RFC had five senior teams and four age group teams out; including Ladies and minis, there were almost 300 players representing the Club.
Unfortunately, the 1st XV went down to one of their heaviest defeats in some time, losing by 50 points to 3 away to CIYMS at Belmont. The game was far from as one-sided as the scoreline would suggest and 26 of the points were conceded in the last quarter as fourteen man Carrick tired visibly. They had lost full-back Aaron McKinney to a leg injury-sustained in trying to prevent CI’s first try- after fifteen minutes and were on the back-foot thereafter. While CI did look impressive, several of their tries relied more on the luck of the bounce than good play and they surely should have had more than one man sin-binned for offences at the scrum and break-down. That said, they are a strong looking outfit all round and seem set to challenge for Section 2 honours.Carrick’s only points came from the boot of out-half Johnny Sheriff.
The Carrick 2nd XV also lost, going down by 22 points to 17 at home to Ballynahinch III.For Carrick, Peter Moore and Chris Rea scored their first senior tries and Ricky Moore kicked two conversions and a penalty. This was a creditable performance from this young side, with five players making their 2nd XV debuts.
The 3rd XV are now unbeaten in five matches, with an emphatic 59 points to 3 away win over Enniskillen on Saturday. There were hat-tricks for Robbie Williams and David Ferris while Jonathan Smith got two tries.Kris James scored a try and kicked seven conversions. David Ferris was awarded “man of the match”.
The 4th XV lost away to Malone V by 10 points to 8. This was a creditable performance as they had to play the whole match with just thirteen players. Carrick’s try came from Chris McKee and Alan Waide added a penalty.
The 5th XV remain undefeated, beating Cooke at home by 44 points to 7. The tries came from Craig Clarke(2), John Marshall(2), Philip Ritchie, Kirk MacEwan and Stephen Martin who also kicked three conversions and a penalty. “Man of the match” was awarded to Ross Hunter.
The Under 19s won by 22 points to 3 away to Rainey, with tries from Nathan Greenwood, Ross Moore and Jason McAuley.Adam Kendall kicked two conversions and a penalty. “Man of the match” went to Matt Ginn for his performance on the wing.
The youth teams hosted City of Derry and, while the Under 17s lost by 3 points to nil, the Under 15s drew 12 points all and the Under 13s won by 32 points to 5. The Under 15s will be awarded the League points for their match as City of Derry were unable to verify the ages of all of their players.
The Minis played host to Instonians and put in some excellent performances, winning several of the age groups.
Fixtures for Saturday 30 October are:
1st XV no game
2nd XV vs Cooke II, home
3rd XV vs Randalstown II, home
4th and 5th XVs have no games
Under 19s vs Ballymena, away
The Youth teams have no games while the minis have training
On Sunday 31 October, the Ladies are away to Cavan Ladies. Also on Sunday, Carrick host the Perennials at woodlawn in a charity match for over 35s(some, and not just Terry McCracken, way over!), kick off 2.30.
