The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV made it five wins out of seven in the League with a 29 points to 11 victory over Academy at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 29 November. This consolidates Carrick’s position in the top three in the League although Omagh remain unbeaten. The match on Saturday was preceded by a minutes silence in honour of the late Dr Jack Kyle, one of the great out-halves of all time, who passed away during the week. The tribute was particularly appropriate on this occasion as Jack Kyle was an old boy of Belfast Royal Academy.
The game itself was heading in the direction of being one of the less memorable winessed at Tom Simms Memorial park before two moments of individual excellence late on produced the two tries which gave Carrick their 18 point winning margin and did something to enliven the late November gloom. In truth,the final winning margin did not really reflect the match itself with Academy well in contention, and deservedly so, until the last ten minutes. Although a typically gloomy late November day, there was little wind and the playing conditions were good but both sides seemed to have a lot of difficulty in hanging onto the ball. There were a lot of handling errors by both teams and the penalty count was high, the result mainly of indiscipline, underlined by the issuing of three yellow cards during the game, two to Carrick and one to academy. Neither side really got on top for very long, until the home side stretched away in the last ten minutes, with dominance in the scrum switching from one side to the other throughout and neither side really dominating at the break-down. For Carrick, most of the plaudits must go to the forwards who carried and tackled well and who were responsible for both of the side’s tries. However, man of the match was undoubtedly out-half Luke Whittall whose boot kept Carrick in the game and who put over five penalties and two conversions in an almost faultless goal-kicking display. In the pack,Matt Hadden produced a number of strong runs and he and open side Ross Marsden worked tirelessly all afternoon. No 8 Curtis Rea produced just one of his trademark runs but it was enough to give Carrick their first try. Andy Kincaid in the second row was prominent throughout and took his try with a storming run in the dying minutes of the game. Adam Gibney’s tackle count was again high while in the backs Ross Crymble was very effective in running back kicks when Academy decided to use the ariel route.
The first quarter of the game was fairly even but with both sides conceding too many penalties. As a result, there was little in the way of flowing rugby but Carrick took the lead after ten minutes when Luke Whittall put over the first of his penalties. Seven minutes later, the visitors took the lead with a pushover try. This came about after Academy had missed with an attempt at goal from a penalty but Carrick carried over as the ball fell short and the visitors drove Carrick back over the line at the ensuing 5-metre scrum. The conversion was missed, leaving Academy leading by 5 points to 3. Shortly afterwards, however, the home side regained the lead when Luke Whittall kicked a penalty from the Academy 10-metre line. Another Whittall penalty after thirty-one minutes put Carrick 9-3 ahead and then five miutes later yet another successful kick following a line-out catch and drive gave Carrick a 12 points to 5 lead which they held for the remainder of the somewhat scrappy first half.
If the first half had been lacking in sparkle most of the second half was downright dull in terms of entertaining rugby with far too many penalties and handling errors to allow the game to flow. That said the match continued to be fiercely contested by both sides. Carrick extended their lead to 15 points to 5 just three minutes into the second half but after this momentum appeared to swing towards the visitors and they reduced the Carrick lead with a penalty goal six minutes into the half and then brought themselves within unconverted try range with another penalty at the end of the third quarter. Down to fourteen men because of a second yellow card, it appeared that Carrick might be letting the game slip going into the final quarter. However, they held on and then, with ten minutes left, the pack, and Curtis Rea in particular , came to the rescue. Academy were awarded a scrum around half-way but Carrick took the ball against the head and Rea set off on a run straight through the visitors’ defence, making forty metres before giving a well-timed pass to Aaron McKinney who got the touch-down in the corner. Luke Whittall put over the conversion from wide out to give Carrick a 22 points to 11 lead. For the last ten or so minutes of the game, the home side at last took control. A period of intense Carrick pressure in the closing minutes was rewarded when, after quickly re-cycled ball, Andy Kincaid burst through a number of tackles on a run from the Academy 22 to touch down near the posts. Luke Whittall added the conversion points to give Carrick a 29 points to 11 victory.
Next Saturday, Carrick travel to Holywood and, despite last Saturday’s margin of victory, will want to put in an improved performance.
The Carrick team against Academy was:-
J. Wady; P. Simpson, J. Cullen(Capt), J. Sheriff, R. Crymble; L. Whittall, A. McKinney; A. Gibney, N. Hannah, M. Smiley(R. Williams), A. Kincaid, C. Rodgers, M. Hadden, R. Marsden, C. Rea. Sub R. McGonigle.
