1st XV v Larne (a)
The Maxol-Sponsored Carrick 1st XV moved back to the top of Section 2 of the Kukri Qualifying League with a 15 points to nil away win over Larne on Saturday 20th February. Celebrations were somewhat muted though as, right at the end, hooker Richard (Bubbles) Higgins, who had put his body on the line all afternoon, suffered what appears to be a season ending fracture to his ankle. The game was played in similar conditions – muddy pitch and cold cross-wind – to those at Tom Simms Park a fortnight earlier when Carrick lost to Academy but on this occasion they adapted much better. The forwards drove well and they didn’t go wide until they were on the front foot while the rush defence was outstanding at times. On one occasion, when Larne had possession, they were driven back from just outside the Carrick 22 to their own 22. The Carrick players at the core of their success this season all put their hands up, with Andy McKeen, Ryan McGonigal, Andy Kinkaid, Chris Rodgers and Adam Gibney all carrying strongly as well as putting in some big tackles. The kicking game was far better than against Academy with Luke Whittal, Ryan Bailey and Aaron Mckinney pinning Larne back into their own territory on numerous occasions with well placed line kicks. The Carrick scrum was dominate throughout, when they were allowed by the referee to scrummage, but both sides’ line-outs suffered in very difficult conditions for throwers and kickers alike.
Larne started strongly and the visitors were fortunate not to go behind in the first minute after conceding a penalty virtually from the kick-off. The Larne attempt at goal went wide in the windy conditions as did a Carrick attempt five minutes later. Larne missed with another penalty attempt after ten minutes. After this, Carrick began to gain territorial control and Luke Whittal was unfortunate when another penalty attempt came back off the post. However, the Larne clearance gave Carrick a line-out just outside the 22 and a strong charge from Ryan McGonigle ended with another penalty to the visitors at the break-down; this time Luke Whittal was successful to give Carrick a 3 points to nil lead. Carrieck continued to exert pressure although they were frustrated at times by the referee’s seeming unwillingness to penalise the Larne backs for rushing up off-side. Luke Whittal was unsuccessful with another penalty effort after Andy Kinkaid had stolen a Larne line-out throw but the Carrick pressure eventually told in the thirty-fifth minute when Conor Cambridge made a break from the back of a scrum and, spotting a large gap in the Larne defence, fed centre Reece Hamilton who raced in from thirty metres out. Luke Whittal added the conversion points to give Carrick a 10 points to nil lead which they held until half-time, Larne missing with another penalty kick as the half ended.
Carrick began the second half on the front foot and good work by Andy Kinkaid at the break-down gave them a penalty from which they opted to go to touch inside the Larne 22. After a good take by Andy McKeen the ball was moved into mid-field where Peter Simpson, in off his wing, put in an excellent grubber kick which the Larne defence could not deal with and Aaron McKinney beat them to the touch-down. The try was not converted but Carrick now had a 15 points to nil lead. From this point on, Carrick continued to control the game, with their defence very much on top, aided by some fine line-kicking by Luke Whittal and Ryan Bailey which drove Larne back when they did get to spend some time in Carrick territory. The visitors had one fright though when a quick pass from the Larne scrum-half appeared to have let his left winger in on the blind-side of a scrum put the pass was ruled forward. With the game drawing to a close, Richard Higgins went down with what was obviously a serious injury and, with the agreement of both Captains, the referee blew for time with a few minutes remaining.
This was a much better performance from Carrick than a fortnight ago against Academy and, with a three point lead at the top of the Table, having now played the same number of games as Coleraine, their destiny is firmly in their own hands. They have five League games remaining, the first of these being against Grosvenor at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 27th February when they will be hoping to repeat the bonus point success in the away fixture early in the season.
The Carrick team which faced Larne was:-
A. McKinney (N. Hanna); P. Simpson, R. Bailey, R. Hamilton, B. Alexander; L.Whittal, C. Cambridge; A. Gibney, R. Higgins, J. McIlwaine (R.Williams), A. Kinkaid, C. Rodgers, A. McKeen, N. Marsden, R. McGonigle (Capt).
2nd XV v Ards (h) (Double header)
On a soggy, freezing cold Saturday afternoon at Tom Simms Memorial Carrick 2’s entertained Ards 2’s in a Junior 2 league double header. This was an opportunity for Carrick to right the wrongs of the previous fortnight when they have succumbed to 2 consecutive away league defeats. Before the game could get started, the match officials expressed grave concerns about the condition of the 2nd pitch where the game was to be played, this forced the relocation of the game to the main pitch, a decision which may have repercussions on home fixtures in the coming weeks.
It was Carrick, playing into the stiff breeze, who got the game got underway and just when we thought that David Carse’s kick off against Clogher Valley would be the worst of the season, “Wee Sam” hit a mud scuttler that bounced 4 times before it went the 10 metres, but go the 10 it did, just… deliberate?…I don’t think so! Ards, predictably, with the breeze at their backs tidied up and cleared long, this was to be the story of the half. The first 40 minutes was a war of attrition for this very youthful Carrick side, there was no easy route out of their 22’ it was sheer hard work, commitment to the cause, grit and determination that was going to be needed. The only saving grace for Carrick in the first half was their opposition’s misdemeanours at the rucks and in the loose, in what was an incredibly disciplined 40 minutes from Carrick the penalty count stood at 12 to 2 (good job given that the Ards prop was a phenomenal goal kicker). One of the early Ards infringements was on the Carrick 5m line just in front of the posts, when the Ards defence aligned on the left hand touch “Wee Sam” feigned to kick and away he went, passed 1, round another, the dancing feet took him all the way to the 10m line before he was eventually halted and his forwards followed up to secure welcome territorial relief. A few more phases of hard running and rucking by the Carrick forwards, notably by Marc “look at me my first name looks French” Gordon and Stuart “ink me baby one more time” Garrett took Carrick up to the Ards 22’. Further charging runs by Jonny “look at me I’m a rugby league international” Mooney and Nathan “King Tit” Greenwood advanced Carrick further, when a try scoring opportunity presented itself just left of the posts James “dumper truck” Graham hit up hard supported by David “Big John Eales” Ferris and burrowed over the Ards line only for the committed defence to spill the ball from his grasp. The ref came back to an earlier infringement and “Wee Sam” knocked over the penalty.
With the strong wind at their backs the Ards side kicked off and straight away put Carrick under pressure in their own 22’ only the dogged selfless work on the saturated ground by Jack “the terrier” Millar and Kris “the baby faced assassin” Berry kept Ards from really threatening the Carrick line. When Carrick strayed offside in the centre the Ards prop, slipping as he went, knocked over a penalty from 35 metres out. Carrick remained under the cosh territorially, it was all too easy for Ards with the wind at their backs to launch booming kicks, the sticky ground meant that none ran dead but rather held up and forced full back David “the quiet man” Carse to extract it from the mud and then make the decision whether to run or kick back into the freezing gale. “The quiet man” had a baptism of fire at full back but got through a phenomenal amount of work in this first half, we’ll put the ineffectiveness of that sidestep down to the 4 inches of mud that his boots got stuck in every time he tried it! As Ards continued to pressure Carrick they were awarded a scrum on the Carrick 22’, for the third time running the Carrick pack obliterated the Ards scrum and won the ball against the head, away went “king tit”, an awesome run saw him cast aside 3 would be tacklers and offload to David “KP all the way” Moore who in turn found Gareth “the terminator” Higgins on the wide right. He immediately dished out the treatment that he had received at Clogher Valley steam-rollering his opposite number, then flicking off another couple of defenders flexing his “deltoids”….or something and sprinting clear to score under the posts….23 tries for the season…..”Wee Sam” added the extra 2, not his cleanest strike though as the charging Ards player got walloped up the kisser with chunks of the Woodlawn pitch! . Ards again resumed territorial supremacy from the kick off and held onto it for the majority of the remainder of the first half, Carrick struggled to escape but remained resilient in defence, the centre partnership of Jake “Big Chopper” Porter (name may need reviewed following reports from showers) and Reece “feet for hands” Berry repelled all midfield attacks and if you’d seen the size of the Ards no. 12 you’d appreciate that this was a super effort from both. Carrick did concede a second penalty, the Ards prop (don’t know if he was a prop but he looked like one) again fell on his hole as he kicked it but miraculously again he dissected the posts, this time from the Carrick 10m line. On 35 minutes the Ards pressure eventually took its toll, a period of sustained Ards pressure culminated in them move the ball right and eventually into the hands of their winger who sprinted clear to score in the corner, this time the big lad stayed on his feet and missed with the kick….maybe he should fall all the time!! Half Time: Carrick 10 Ards 11
Special mention to the Carrick back 3 including Shaun “the flyin Scotsman” Hardie, “the quiet man” and “the terminator” who were extremely industrious, disciplined and accurate in the first half, they needed to be…if not the score line could have been very different. Special mention also to the tireless defensive effort of the pack in particular, tackle after tackle sent them thundering into the glue-like mud, but up they got and looked for more, Joel “juicehead” C Bell, “look at me my first name’s French”, “the terrier” and “ink me baby one more time” were particularly dirty at half time.
The second half seen the territory and possession statistics completely reversed, from the off “KP all the way” and “wee Sam” forced Ards to retreat deep into their own territory. Carrick laid siege on the Ards line and threw everything at them. For the first 15 minutes of the second half, forward after forward had a go, “look at me my first name looks French” and “King tit” got close, cries from the touchline to let the ball go wide found deaf ears. The resolute Ards defence stood strong and the referee (with some interesting interpretation of the rules / laws) allowed Ards brief rest bite. When the rest bite came Ards knew they had to keep ball in hand, this gave them an opportunity to get their big 12 on the front foot, over 6 foot and about 18 stone he cut an awesome sight in full flow, funny though, he only ran once, maybe because he was unceremoniously dumped by “chopper” (name corrected) who stopped him, lifted him and drove him back into the swamp beneath and secured a turnover when his forwards supported him at the ensuing ruck. Carrick to their credit kept at it, they drove forward looking for scores, “the terminator” came in from his wing to have a go but to no avail, “the quiet man”, enjoying a less busy second half had a couple of promising runs halted by the covering defence and “wee Sam” did his best to manufacture a second score which would get Carrick ahead on the scoreboard and allow them to focus on going after a bonus point. The second score came courtesy of a penalty, when “look at me I’m a rugby league international” made a strong carry into the Ards 22’ the heavy tiring Ards pack flopped over the top of a ruck and gave “wee Sam” a shot 15m from the right hand touch, he struck it sweetly and even with the strong wind it sailed between the posts never deviating from its intended route. This gave Carrick the lead and allowed them to push on in search of the tries, whilst they tried their best the conditions made running rugby difficult, cold muddy hands, a slippery ball, a sticky pitch and a committed Ards defence kept them scoreless until the 70th minute. When Carrick pressure was rewarded with a 5m scrum on the 15m line on the right, it was set up for “King tit”, solid scrum ball was secured and away he went from the base, “the terminator” threateningly howling for the ball on the outside, a dummy or 2 had to be sold and then he was over. “Wee Sam” didn’t fancy the kick, step up “Big John Eales”, a really sweet strike from far out but the wind just taking the kick to the right at the last minute. From the restart “dump truck” secured good clean ball and bumped a would be tackler before setting up a ruck, from the ruck “KP all the way” release “King tit” on the halfway line, through one tackler, snagged by a second, he pirouetted and shrugged them both off, along came a third he was made to eat the dirt, then came the pace….and ignoring the constant howls from “the terminator” on the outside he passed the 22’ then the 5 and…. made it…. under the posts for his second and Carrick’s third of the day, an outstanding individual effort and his 13th try of the season. “Wee Sam” chipped a drop goal for the conversion, chipped it onto the crossbar and it limped over, the ball didn’t go as far the muck he kicked first!! The Carrick team sprinted back for the kick off, five minutes to go to get the bonus point, an infringement from the kick-off gave Ards some relief, they held onto the ball for 2 minutes then knocked on, with Carrick ready for one last big effort the referee unbelievably blew for full time, he was obviously in a hurry to get somewhere!! Final score Carrick 25 Ards 11
This was a truly spirited performance from an incredibly young Carrick side, a great effort by all 17 players who despite the difficult conditions maintained their effort and enthusiasm for the full seventy odd minutes. It was great to see Gareth “Baby Coug” McKeown back in the fold after a lengthy absence and he showed well in the second half leading from the front. We hope that both “look at me’s” shoulder injuries prove to be just strains and they will be back in action soon….like this Friday night at home to CIYMS 7.30pm kick-off.
Carrick 2’s Team: David Carse 7, Gareth Higgins 7, Reece Berry 6, Jake Porter 7, Shaun Hardie, 7 Sam Wallace 8, David Moore 7, Nathan Greenwood 9, Jack Millar 8, Kris Berry 7, David Ferris 7, Marc Gordon 8, Joel Bell 8, Jonny Mooney 8, James Graham 7, Gareth McKeown 7, Stuart Garrett 8
4th XV v BHSFP 2s (again) (h)
What seemed like deja-vu the Reapers team turned out to take on BHSFP 2nd XV for the second game this month. With BHSFP 1st XV having no game there was a distinctive difference to the BHS back line.
The Reapers with an absence of an experienced out half available called upon Daryl Crothers to move position and take up the challenge which he did. Credit to Ian Penny for doing likewise and pulling on the number 14 jersey.
On a muddy pitch the battle played out. Edward Montgomery tapped an early penalty and dived into score the only points of the game. Andy Magill stepped up and from afar just missed the further two points.
A halftime talk from Rab Hawkins who supported the team from the sidelines due to injury was taken on board. Once again the Reapers team defense was second to none. Several powerful runs in the Reapers 22 by BHS and 8 minutes from the final whistle were met by a wall of Reapers forwards determined no-one was coming through.
The final whistle and Carrick secured another two league points. Man of match went to Michael Simms well deserved.
