In the second leg of a two match series with Ballynahinch which was played this week at Tom Simms Memorial Park, Carrick once again inflicted a comprehensive defeat on their Co Down rivals.
Not that Hinch were a walkover far from it they remained competitive throughout & even at the late stages of the game Carrick were made to work very hard for any scores that they got.
The home side once again had a strong starting line up and a very eager bench straining at the leash for game time, this permitted the Carrick coaching team the liberty of trying out various positional & personnel experiments which as the score line suggests were totally successful.
The foundations for this performance were well & truly laid at a ferociously competitive training session on Wednesday night & a much focused pre match warm up on Saturday morning.
With John Stewart ensconced as pack leader & Jake Gardiner given a specific role at open side flanker a clear game plan was executed to perfection.
These two proved to be leaders throughout & their work was built upon by the remainder of the pack in which there were outstanding performances by all at scrum & lineout.
Where Carrick held all the aces however was their clean precise work at the breakdown which allowed Andrew Campbell to find his out half Sam Wallace with ease.
When the ball was being set to the forwards coming round the corner it was Corey Kelly who took the ball a la Cian Healey for some barnstorming carries and a brace of tries, this presented a no brainer for the coaching staff with Birthday Boy Kelly receiving a fully deserved man of the match award.
With Matthew Fisher & John Turner also carrying strongly this ensured a plentiful supply of ball for Jake Porter & Evan Sloan in midfield.
A few times some players reverted to the up the jumper tactic & tries were scored when they could have been scored a lot crisper & earlier via quick release of the ball.
Not to be outdone Hinch stormed up field & a delicate chip over the home defence saw a wicked bounce defeat Matthew Best only to bounce into the arms of the Hinch kicker for the softest of tries, Hinch out half Joseph added the conversion & Hinch tails were up.
A refocusing of objectives at half time & a few more changes saw a highly charged Carrick XV take total control of the second half, if anything the forwards became more competitive ,carried harder & cleaned out the contact area with more venom.
This in turn allowed the backs to become more expressive and after a fantastic build up by the forwards up the right hand touchline the ball was quickly swung left with Carrick having a clear advantage, unfortunately a poorly flighted pass fell at the feet of the Carrick midfield with three players free on the wide outside.
Changes were now being made wholesale by Carrick with the entire bench getting good productive game time.
This also showed established players that there are viable options in all rows of the pack, in the midfield & back three.
Experiments at scrum half also should have incumbents peering anxiously over their shoulders.
With the Hinch out half having to leave the field with a leg injury Hinch lost shape but still displayed a fighting spirit ensuring any late Carrick scores had to be hard earned.
This turned out to be not only a team performance but a triumph for the squad system that allowed 25 Carrick U15s players to get exposure in a highly skilled, fast tempo game of rugby. Full credit to the Hinch players & coaching staff who deserve praise for their efforts also to the referee who controlled the game in an efficient manner.
The work begins once again on Wednesday night at 7pm when a full squad turn out is expected.
Scorers – Corey Kelly T2 Reece Berry T2 Sam Wallace T2 Matthew Fisher T3 Chris Berry T
Man Of The Match – Corey Kelly
