Carrick 1st XV suffered their third defeat at the hands of Section 2 leaders University of Ulster, Coleraine (UUC) when they lost the away League encounter by 32 points to 14 on Saturday 4 February. The Maxol-sponsored Carrick side once again put in a decent performance for parts of the game but didn’t take their chances when they came and then conceded tries – at least two of which were down to poor defending- when the opposition got into the “red zone”. For the first half hour, Carrick were pretty much on top and playing the game in UUC territory but, rather like Scotland later in the day, decision-making and handling let them down when they got into good attacking positions. They then conceded two tries late in the first half and were chasing the game from then on against a side which controlled territory and possession for at least the first twenty-five minutes of the second half and which had Carrick under pressure at the scrum and the break-down. On the Carrick side, Kris James had a very good game in attack and took his two tries in some style. Ross Crymble had an excellent defensive game ,putting in some crunching tackles and there was also some good aggressive defence from Daryl Crothers. Glen Picken kicked well to try to keep Carrick playing in the right areas.
Carrick started well and took the lead early on with a well taken Kris James try. James added the conversion points himself. Carrick controlled territory for most of the first half-hour but could not add to their score. A number of opportunities were missed when passes did not go to hand or wrong options were taken. Almost inevitably, the visitors were made to pay when UUC drove over from a line-out on one of their rare visits to the Carrick 22. That try was not converted but UUC took the lead with a penalty after thirty-two minutes and then, on the stroke of half-time, Carrick got into a terrible defensive mess at a 5-metre scrum and failure to control the ball allowed the home side to gather and go over. The try was not converted to leave UUC leading by 13 points to 7 at the break.
Six minutes into the second half, and with Carrick down to fourteen men because of a sin-binning, UUC again forced their way over from a line-out catch and drive but again could not convert the try. Ten slater they more or less put the game beyond Carrick when their excellent No 8 initiated a move which, after going through several phases,ended with a long miss pass giving the UUC winger space to get in at the corner. This try was converted to give the hosts a 25 points to 7 lead. Carrick were prevented from going further behind when UUC looked to have broken clear with turn-over ball from their own 22 but a great covering tackle by Ross Crymble stiffled the move. Then, with fifteen minutes remaining, Carrick briefly gave themselves hope when Kris James split the UUC defence following a tap penalty and went over under the posts. He once again added the conversion points himself. Virtually from the re-start though UUC ran back a loose Carrick kick, the first up tackle was missed and the home side scored under the posts. The conversion gave them a lead of 32 points to 14 which was never really threatened in the final ten minutes of the game.
Next week, Carrick travel to Lisburn to try to complete the League double over them.
The Carrick team against UUC was:
L. Totten; K. James, K. Quinn, R. Hamilton, D. Crothers; A. McKinney, G. Picken; A. Gibney, G. Baxter, D. McKeen(Capt), A. Kincaid, C. Ferris, M. Davidson, R. Crymble, M. Patterson.
Fixtures for Saturday 11 February are:
1st XV vs Lisburn, away
2nd XV vs Clogher Valley II, away
3rd XV vs Clogher Valley III, away
4th XV vs Grosvenor IV, away
5th XV vs Randalstown III, home
