The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV made unbeaten Bangor fight all the way for their 28 points to 17 home victory at Uprichard Park on Saturday 27 October. The match was not finally decided until the dying moments of normal time and Carrick were, perhaps, unfortunate not to come away with a losing bonus point. The visitors dominated territory for long periods of the first half and the first fifteen minutes of the second. Their defence was good apart from one awful lapse early on which gifted Bangor their first try. However,the line-out again did not function consistently and the scrum was under pressure against the big and experienced Bangor eight. However, the young Carrick front row acquitted themselves well and managed to disrupt more than one Bangor scrum. Scrum-half Glen Picken had an outstanding game, getting both Carrick tries, harrying his opposite number from begining to end and putting in some fine line kicks. Andy McIlroy was solid at full-back and put in some great clearance kicks when Carrick were under pressure. Ross Marsden at open-side put in another fine performance, winning a number of turn-overs and putting in some big tackles.
Carrick started well and, making good use of the stiffish breeze, kept Bangor penned in their own half in the early stages. However, it was the home side which scored first, after seven minutes, when missed first up tackles allowed them to breach the Carrick defence on half-way and, after some slick inter-passing, touch down near the posts. The try was converted. The visitors hit back almost immediately though when Glen Picken raced over following a tap penalty for an early shove at the scrum. Ross Marsden made the initial incursion before Picken gathered and went through a gap to score. Andy McIlroy added the conversion points to level the scores. Carrick’s aggressive defence kept Bangor under pressure and Picken and McIlroy, in particular, used the elements to ensure that Carrick played for most of the time in opposition territory. It was no more than they deserved when Carrick took the lead through a penalty converted by Andy McIlroy after thirty minutes. However, the home side began to press strongly in the closing minutes of the half and, after Carrick had made a mess of a line-out, on their own 22, Bangor drove up to the line, re-cycled several times and scored on the left when Carrick simply ran out of defenders. The try was converted to let Bangor lead-probably against the run of play- by 14 points to 10 at the break.
Carrick began the second half by putting the kick-off straight into touch! However, at the ensuing scrum, Glen Picken showed great anticipation to intercept the Bangor pass and the scrum-half out-paced the defence to score near the posts. Andy McIlroy’s conversion put Carrick back into the lead by 17 points to 14. Carrick continued to force Bangor to play in their own half in the early stages of the second half but, in probably their first incursion into Carrick territory, the home side charged down a Carrick kick and would have scored but for a fine covering tackle by Adie Moore. They won a penalty at the break-down, however, and duly converted it to tie the score at 17 points apiece. Going into the last quarter, Bangor started to fully exploit the freshening breeze at their backs and to pen Carrick in their own half. It is a tribute to the improvement in the Carrick defence that, despite twenty minutes of fairly continuous pressure, Bangors’s only rewards were a penalty on twenty-one minutes and a drop goal four minutes later to give them a 23 points to 17 lead. Carrick continued to battle away and even made the odd incursion into Bangor territory late on, including a fine run by John Anderson, taken on by Adie Moore, but which ended with the ball being turned over. It seemed that the visitors would at least come away with a losing bonus point but, with just a couple of minutes of normal time remaining, Bangor forced their way over from a catch and drive at a line-out close to the Carrick line. The try eas not converted, leaving the hosts victorious by 28 points to 17.
This was a good performance from Carrick against one of the two unbeaten sides in the League, especially with the memory of the horrors of their last visit to Uprichard Park fresh in the minds of many. One of the big changes is in defensive organisation and credit must go to coaches Warren McLean, Neal Hannah and John Anderson for that. Next week, Carrick play host to Grosvenor at Tom Simms Memorial Park.
The Carrick team which faced Bangor was:
A. McIlroy; J. Wady, J. Anderson, A. Moore, K. Love; J. Sheriff, G. Picken; R. Williams, G. Baxter, A. Gibney, A. Kincaid(Capt), C. Rea, M. Ferris, R. Marsden, R. McGonigle.
Fixtures for Saturday 3 November are:-
1st XV vs Grosvenor, home
2nd XV vs Banbridge III, away
4th XV vs Bangor III, home
