Carrick 1st XV could not complete the double over Limavady, losing by 16 points to 6 at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 26th January. The visitors deserved their victory because they displayed more urgency in all facets of the game and took their chances when they came. In short, they appeared to want the victory more than did Carrick. Indeed, the Maxol-sponsored Carrick team pretty well dominated possession and territory in the final quarter, as against Randalstown the previous week, but again could not conjure up a try. Against Randalstown, they were already in the lead so, in a sense, it did not matter then but on Saturday they were chasing at least a losing bonus point and simply could not turn possession and field position into points. The scrum was fairly evenly contested between the sides but Limavady had the better of the line-out and were more committed at the break-down.
The game kicked off in very wet and cold conditions and, after an even first ten minutes, it was the visitors who scored first. Following a line-out in the Carrick 22, they drove and then quickly re-cycled the ball for their out-half to put in a beautifully weighted kick for their right winger who caught the ball and spun out of a tackle to score. The try was not converted. Both sides were finding it difficult in the conitions but the visitors demonstrated a greater ability to hang onto possession and deservedly increased their lead with a penalty after thirty minutes. This seemed to spur Carrick into action and they came very close when Karl Love made a break which took him up to the line and the Limavady out-half earned a yellow card for an early tackle on the intended recipient of Love’s pass. It could be argued that this was penalty try territory but Carrick had to be content with a penalty which Johnny Sheriff duly converted.Then, in injury time, Sheriff added another penalty to make the half-time score 8 points to 6 in Limavady’s favour.
Limavady got the perfect start to the second half when they put a penalty into touch close to the Carrick line, caught and drove at the line-out and scored when the ball carrier peeled off and dived over. Again, the try was not converted. The home side had an opportunity to hit back almost immediately when out-half Johnny Sheriff made a neat break and raced into the Limavady 22 but the support could not get to him in time. Carrick did manage to hang onto the ball but, in an act which summed up their problems in attack, tried to force the issue with a grubber kick which merely handed the ball to their opponents. Carrick by this stage probably had more opportunities to create scoring chances than their opponents but it was Limavady who went further ahead when their out-half put over a drop-goal after twenty-two minutes of the second half. From then on, Carrick were, more or less, in control of territory and possession but could not use their advantage to score. On one occasion they made a complete hash of a four on two situation inside the Limavady 22. In the dying minutes, Carrick did have to face one last Limavady onslaught but the defence held up well. At the final whistle, Limavady were the deserved winners by 16 points to 6.
Carrick have a week off before they travel to Belmont to tackle Grosvenor on 9 February. They will certainly need to be sharper if they are to gain revenge for the 3 nil loss to Grosvenor in early November.
The Carrick team which faced Limavady was:-
A. McKinney(Capt); A. Moore, J. Anderson, K. Love, A. McIlroy; J. Sheriff, K. Topping; E. Peacock, N. Hanna, R. Williams, A. Kincaid, C. Rogers, C. Rea, R. Marsden, M. Patterson.
Fixture for Saturday 2 February:_
2nd XV vs Coleraine II, away
