With the league already won there was a more relaxed atmosphere at Carrickfergus on Tuesday night when the IV’s completed their season with a comfortable 43-7 win over Carrick III. Most of the damage was done in the opening half with skipper, Gareth Lucas touching down after collecting the bouncing ball from the kick off. Cormac Convery added an excellent conversion for a 7-0 lead after thirty seconds. Dungannon doubled the advantage on eight minutes when Mark Faloon sent Kevin McElduff away for Cormac Convery to convert. The latter then added a penalty on eighteen minutes to make it 17-0. Both sides then lost forwards to the ‘sin bin’ before Kevin McElduff gained his second try following a poor clearance on thirty-three minutes. Five minutes later Andrew Holmes broke clear beating five tacklers before touching down at the posts. Cormac converted both and the half-time whistle blew at 31-0.
Five minutes into the second half the Carrick forwards made their presence felt when No 8, Chris Rodgers crashed over for lock, David Ferris to convert. The scoreboard remained idle for twenty minutes until Gareth Lucas took a good lineout catch for the even more experienced Andrew Girvan to finish the job. Cormac missed the conversion by inches; his only miss on the night.
Final say though went to Andrew Holmes who collected a lucky bounce before sprinting fifty metres to the posts after seventy-seven minutes. Cormac Convery’s conversion completed the scoring.
7 – 43
Unfortunately the IVs were not able to take their place in the Harden Cup play off due to the injury toll from this game and the Forster Cup Final last Saturday. Nevertheless Julian and the boys have reasons to be happy. They have played 20 games and only lost one to questionable opposition. They have won their League and the Forster Cup. Not a bad season and plenty of memories to be proud of.
Team: Cormac Convery, Christopher Blair, Andrew Holmes, Mark Faloon, Kevin McElduff . Jonathan Smith, Richard Fletcher. Steven Sinnamon, Ally Moore, Wallace McKay, Gareth Lucas (Capt), Adam Booth. Jeremy Baird, Christopher Holland, Andrew Girvan.
Referee: John Coyle
Tries: Gareth Lucas, Kevin McElduff (2), Andrew Holmes (2) & Andrew Girvan
Conversions: Cormac Convery (5)
Penalties: Cormac Convery
Drop Goal
