Carrick U15s welcomed the Northumbria champions Northern FC U15s to Tom Simms Memorial Park at the weekend for the first fixture ever between the two clubs.
Northern is a crack touring side who had disposed of Instonians U15s before making the short journey down along the shore of Belfast Lough to Carrickfergus.
With one tour victory under their belt Northern were looking for the icing on the cake by turning over the local XV but as other teams have discovered victories against the Carrick boys are few & far between.
Carrick started brightly with the visitors number eight unable to field cleanly they were awarded a scrum just outside the visitors 22 mtr line.
An unenforced error at the base of a powerful scrum saw the ball returned to Northern but this gave them no respite as another shunt by the home pack took the ball against the head (one of many) and released Sam Wallace for the opening try.
With the game only minutes old Northern were shell-shocked by the home onslaught, worse was yet to come for them with the home pack gaining in confidence Matt Fisher was released on the charge with the inevitable outcome of a try converted by Wallace.
The visitors had barely crossed into the home half at this stage & although moving the ball well incessant home defence saw them make little headway.
Resorting to kicking the ball also provided little return as Mike Whitall Dylan McDowell & Matt Best worked well as a back three returning the ball with forceful run backs or placed kicks.
A trademark carry by John Stewart earned him the third try of the match following a burst by Dan McBurney before the Northern out half kicked a penalty to get them off the mark.
This stirred Carrick & after a great passage of play which saw forwards & backs interplay using a wide range of handling & running skills Sam Wallace cut through for his second try.
Half time came with the score at 22 points to 3 in favour of the home side; highlights of the half included the scrummaging by Carson Stewart & Kelly , carrying of the ball by the forwards & brick wall defence by the backs.
Luckily for Northern the referee introduced non contested scrums as their hooker was injured & this took the edge somewhat of what had been a great attacking tool of Carricks. A number of replacements & positional changes also caused a loss of structure but the home side soon got back in the groove with strong runs from Corey Kelly John Turner Jake Gardener & Cody Surgeoner.
One such surge allowed Conor Cambridge to release Wallace for his hat trick try which he also converted.
An injudicious hit by Rory Magill was judged to merit a yellow card and with Carrick down to 14 & with replacements still finding the pace of the game Northern managed to get a score wide out, it was to be their last points of the game.
Co centres Jake Porter & Evan Sloan were perfect in attack & defence Porter with his over the ball steals & Sloan with silken footwork & safe hands.
It was left to Fisher who had by now moved to partner Porter to have the final say, quick hands transferred the ball to the right & Fishers angled run split the home defence for his second try.
Pleasing overall was the fact that ten replacements ended the game for Carrick with the bench being used to full effect.
Northern players caught the eye including out half, full back and their captain & number eight. Tour manager Richard Saunderson & Tour Coach Tony Appleton can feel justly proud of their efforts in putting their tour package together & a bright future is store for Northern FC youth section. CRFC wish them well in their Northumbria County Cup semi final next week.
In the true traditions of rugby post match hospitality, interaction & refreshments were enjoyed by both clubs with Northern possibly taking a little satisfaction from the day in the result of the six nations fixture at Stade De France.
Full time score CRFC U15s 34 Northern FC U15s 8
