We got some clips of play from the game and an interview with coach Gary Leslie afterwards, all below
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CLICK HERE FOR 124 Pictures from Intouch Rugby & Dale Loughridge
Coach Gary Leslie Comments
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After the improvement evident against Bangor the previous week, the Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV -forced into a number of changes as a result of injury and illness-took several steps backwards when they were heavily beaten by local rivals Ballyclare at Tom Simms Memorial Park. The final score of 55 points to 10 did flatter the visitors in that it was one of those occasions when every rub of the green in the second half seemed to go Ballyclare’s way and nothing went right for Carrick. Twice in the second half when Carrick looked to be close to scoring, the ball was turned over and the visitors scored at the other end. That said, Ballyclare were superior in virtually every facet of play. CLICK HERE FOR 124 Pictures from Intouch Rugby & Dale Loughridge With their scrum under intense pressure, and very much second best at the break-down, Carrick found it difficult to get any decent ball from which to mount attacks. Their defensive frailties manifested themselves once again when the dangerous Ballyclare backs had ball in hand. There were some good individual performances from Carrick. Mark Patterson at No 8 carried bravely, Jason Wady looked dangerous with ball in hand on the few occasions when Carrick had attacking opportunities and Curtis Rea and Chris Ferris provided some good ball from the line-out.
Playing against the strong breeze in the first half, the visitors looked effective with ball in hand and opened the scoring after just three minutes when they breached the Carrick defence, moved the ball wide and and scored off a pass back inside. The try was not converted. With the wind at their backs, Carrick were playing most of the game in their opponents’ half and took the lead after seventeen minutes when Jason Wady made a break close to the scrum and quick ruck ball gave Glen Baxter the chance to dive over. Kris James added the conversion points. However, with Carrick not creating chances and Ballyclare continuing to look effective with ball in hand, it was not really a surprise when the visitors re-gained the lead . After a break by their scrum -half, they went through about ten phases before forcing their way over in the corner. Again, the try was not converted. With half-time approaching, Kris James put over a penalty to tie the scores at 10 points all at the break.
The second half was virtually one- way traffic, despite a couple of Carrick forays into the visitors’ 22. In the first ten minutes of the half ,Ballyclare had secured a bonus point with two further tries, neither converted, They went on to add a further five tries aided on a couple of occasions by some almost outrageous good fortune, including the try they scored starting from behind their own line when Carrick lost control of the ball just as it seemed they must score!
This is another one to put behind them for Carrick as they prepare a difficult away fixture against UUC in two weeks time.
The Carrick team against Ballyclare was:
K. James; R. Hamilton, A. McIlroy, J. Wady, D. Crothers; A. McKinney, G. Picken; D. McKeen(Capt), G. Baxter, D. Bowers, C.Rea, A. Kincaid, C. Ferris, M. Davidson, M. Patterson.
Fixtures for 28 January:
1st XV – no match
2nd XV -no match
3rd XV vs Portadown IV, home
4th XV -no match
5th XV vs CIYMS IV, home
