On Saturday last Carrick U15s played Connacht kingpins Galway Corinthians at Woodlawn in a highly entertaining, skilful & committed game.
With Corinthians wanting game time for their large panel prior to their Connacht League Final the game was played in a number of sessions.
The visitors were superior in age, weight & overall size but the tenacity & sheer courage of the Woodlawn boys shone like a beacon & not for the first time this season.
Click Here For 44 pictures from this game – some very good action shots here.
The first session showed Carrick pressing hard but unable to breach a very resolute visitor’s defence. Excellent scavenging by Corinthians back row gave them a large share of the contact area possession which they spread wide via a more than useful backline.
Not to be outdone Carrick replied in kind with Connor Cambridge having one of his best recent games, buying valuable time for his partner Sam Wallace to get the home backs moving. The visitors defence was proving equally stubborn & the session looked to be heading for a stalemate but the visitors got in at the corner for a try just on the whistle.
The second session saw Carrick introduce a number of replacements & new combinations, the visitors kept most of their team intact & they grew in confidence.
A lack of cohesion in defence allowed the visiting backs to capitalise scoring two tries from too easily surrendered Carrick possession.
Carrick were suffering from having too little of the ball & never got on the front foot in this session but remained resolute in the face of a huge Corinthians forward effort.
The third session served up rugby of the highest order with Carrick working to strict objectives of keeping their defence intact & scoring against their very worthy opponents.
Carrick certainly sat their stall out pressing hard in the visitors 22 and keeping the ball alive for long periods.
From a solid platform midfield the ball came left with forwards & backs combining allowing Brad Young a trademark charge for a try.
The visitor’s skill level did not drop & their ability to steal the fifty-fifty ball was first rate, from such a turnover on the last play of the game they swept up field to score the equalising try & end a magnificent game which was a fantastic advertisement for Carrick Youth Rugby.
Impressive debuts by Jack King & Matthew Fisher were a feature of the game but an all round complete performance in attack & defence by Sam Wallace got him a richly deserved man of the match accolade.
Both squads, coaches & parents sat down to lunch afterwards in the Carrick Clubhouse.
This was followed by a number of presentations by both clubs & a hearty invitation from Galway Corinthians to the Carrick youth section to visit them next season.
Post Match Comments
CRFC Community Rugby Officer Michael Dickson said afterwards that the game had been played at a fantastic pace with huge amounts of individual & collective skills on show from both squads. He continued by saying that Galway Corinthians, CRFC Youth Sections & very supportive parents should be immensely proud of the efforts of all these young people coming from diverse backgrounds but united & interacting in the common bond of playing rugby football.
Galway Corinthians Youth Manager Joe Ward spoke of the great link that has now been forged by these young players & paid tribute to the turnout demeanor & discipline of both groups of young players. Joe also paid tribute to the coaches & managers of both squads urging them to continue their very important work. He thanked CRFC for their hospitality & in presenting the CRFC Youth Section with a Corinthians Youth Section plaque extended an invitation to them to visit Corinthian Park next season.
This was a prestige fixture against one of Connachts oldest & best known clubs & a dress rehearsal for their league final & Carricks Brewin Dolphin Cup fixture against Donegal RFC U15s next week.
Galway Corinthians Rugby Football Club was founded in 1932 and plays in the Second division of the All Ireland League . The Club’s home ground is at Corinthian Park, Cloonacauneen, Co. Galway.
Current Connacht players Johnny O,Connor & Eoin Griffin are members of the Corinthians club, O,Connor who has 12 caps made his senior Irish debut against South Africa in 2004 & Griffin was a member of the highly exciting Ireland U20 XV which won the U20 Triple Crown & 6 Nations title.
Carrick Squad.
Forwards
Corey Kelly John Stewart Glen Cunningham Ian Kerr John Turner Cody Surgeoner
Jake Gardener Neill Beggs Daniel McBurney Jordan Robinson Matthew Fisher
Stefan Pollin Rory Magill Brad YoungJ ohnny Mooney
Backs
C Cambridge Sam Wallace Jamie McCracken Jake Porter (capt) Callum Wilson
Jack King Dylan McDowell Andrew Campbell Gareth Smyth Thomas Fleming
