Touring Canadian side Dartmouth Pig Dogs from Nova Scotia got their tour off to a fine start with their Ladies side defeating Carrick Ladies 39 -5 on Sunday afternoon.
Dartmouth Ladies were quick to shake off any cobwebs from their long journey from Canada (and by all accounts an enjoyable Saturday night’s partying) and quickly set about putting their hosts under intense pressure.
Despite a spirited defence from the Carrick Ladies their Canadian visitors proved too powerful with Catherine Lang, Cristen Young, Riley Kitchin and Amber Hanrahan all crossing the line in the first half. Kitchin added one conversion.
The second half started as the first left off with the impressive Buddy Dorrington scoring a quick brace with young winger Alison Sanford adding another before a torrential downpour. Kitchin converted Sanford’s score but the wet weather seemed to suit the home side as they began to get to grips with the hard running Canadian girls.
Carrick applied intense pressure on the Dartmouth line for the final quarter with several players coming close. The home side eventually got their breakthrough near the end with their hard working substitute Alyson Smyth blasting over for a well deserved try to leave the final score 5 -39.
Dartmouth Pig Dog Ladies: Lori Maxwell, Kitrina Gooding, Julie Snooks, Kelsey Smith, Madison Boyd, Shelby Boyd, Amanda Campbell, Cristen Young, Sarah Lamb, Nicole Dykens, Katherine Long, Amanda Walker, Denise Crowell, Noel McKnight, Allison Stanford, Riley Kitchin, Adrienne McDonald, Barbara Macpherson, Amber Hanrahan, Barbara McDonald, Lisa Hoboldt, Buddy Dorrington
Unfortunately the Dartmouth Pig Dog Men didn’t fare so well against a strong Carrick Mens side
The Canadians were definitely a bit rusty, not having played since November, and the slick handling Carrick side were just to fast and well drilled coming off the end of their competitive season.
It was all too one sided with Carrick racking up 50 points in the first half and despite rugby legends Noel McKnight and Garry Watters coming on for the visitors in the second half the onslaught continued. So much so that we lost count.
