Shock defeat for 1st XV against Academy
1st XV v Academy (h)
The Maxol-sponsered Carrick 1st XV suffered their first League defeat of the 2015/16 season when they lost by 11 points to 3 to Academy at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 6 February. They also lost their position at the top of Section 2 of the Kukri Qualifying League to Coleraine who beat Randalstown on Saturday although Carrick still have a game in hand on their rivals.
As has become the pattern this Winter, the match against Academy was played in very unpleasant weather conditions, with a very muddy pitch, a strong wind and a heavy shower towards the end. By the final whistle it was almost impossible to tell one team from the other with players plastered in mud from head to foot. The visitors fully deserved their victory for the simple reason that they played the better rugby in the conditions. Their simple pick and go approach enabled them to hold onto the ball for longer than Carrick when they were in possession. They also used the boot more selectively and effectively than Carrick who on a number of occasions kicked possession away when they should have held onto the ball. Carrick’s frequent attempts to move the ball wide almost always ended in a turn-over for one reason or another. Academy’s tactic of flooding the break-down enabled them to secure possession more effectively and to slow down Carrick’s ball. For once, Carrick did not dominate in the scrum and this removed one of their attacking options with the normally very effective Ryan McGonigle denied the opportunity to make ground and put the team on the front foot.
For Carrick, there were not many stand-out performances bur Michael Black had a very solid game at full-back in the conditions and looked threatening on a number of occasions when running back kicks.Chris Rodgers playing at blind-side tackled ferociously but again he had few opportunities to make his mark as a ball-carrier.
Academy dominated possession and territory in the early stages of the game and took the lead after ten minutes with a penalty, having missed with an opportunity shortly after the kick-off. Carrick then began to control territory but could make little impact against a solid Academy defence and ended up turning the ball over on a number of occasions when a little patience might have brought a better return. As the half wore on, the visitors began to spend more time in Carrick territory although one Ryan McGonigle charge from a tap penalty breached the Academy defence but Carrick then conceded a penalty at the break-down. In injury time, Academy extended their lead with a penalty awarded for holding on and, although Carrick did have a chance to reduce the deficit with a penalty of their own, the kick from the Academy 10 metre line was missed and the visitors went into the break leading by 6 points to nil.
Academy dominated the early stages of the second half as they had the first with their simple one out pick and drive game. This produced its reward in the eighth minute of the half when they forced their way over the line after going through about a dozen phases following a line-out on the Carrick 22. As in the first period, Carrick then began to take control of territory for the next ten or so minutes but their only reward was a Luke Whittal penalty at the end of the first quarter. In the final quarter, Carrick still managed to spend a lot of time in the Academy half but attack after attack foundered on an inability to keep hold of the ball. However, on the half-hour mark, they did mange an attack which went through an number of phases, moving the ball left and then back right but eventually the move foundered when a pass did not go to hand. Towards the end Carrick had an opportunity when Andy Kinkaid made twenty metres up to the Academy 22 but, when the ball was moved wide, good reading by the Academy defence of Reece Hamilton’s cut inside enabled the Academy defence to snuff out the move. Carrick did finish with a penalty opportunity which would have given them a losing bonus point but, in the difficult kicking conditions, Luke Whittal was unable to convert so the visitors finished as deserved 11 point to 3 winners.
This was probably Carrick’s worst performance of the season but they still had enough chances, particularly in the final quarter, to win the game. If they had adapted rather better to the conditions and shown the patience required the result could well have been different. They now have a week off before facing Larne at the Glynn on 20th February.
The Carrick team which faced Academy was:-
M. Black; R. Hamilton, R. Bailey, A. McKinney, B. Alexander; L. Whittal, C. Cambridge; A. Gibney, N. Hanna (R. Williams), J. McIlwaine, A. Kinkaid (Capt), K. McNeil (C. Rea), C. Rodgers, N. Marsden, R. McGonigle.
2nd XV v Clogher Valley 2s (a)
On Saturday Carrickfergus 2nd XV travelled to Clogher Valley with high hopes of extending their 4-month unbeaten run in Junior 2, this was always going to be a tough task after their hosts had rocked league leaders Ballynahinch 4’s away from home the previous week. So it would prove to be, the only things Carrick came away with on the day were a losing bonus point and 17 cases of mild hypothermia!!
On a bitterly cold and wet day in South Tyrone the game started well for Carrick, they gained early territorial advantage through the boots of Kenny “the wee general” Topping, David “the quiet man” Carse and “wee Sam” Wallace and had lineouts and scrums inside the Clogher 22’. Strong carries by skipper Richard “great things come in small packages” Higgins, Nathan “King Tit” Greenwood and Jonny “look at me I’m a rugby league international” Mooney were all absorbed by the committed blue and green defensive line. Handling errors, miscommunication in the lineouts, the afore mentioned staunch Clogher defence and the mother of all hail-stone showers meant these first half forays forward remained unrewarded. Transversely when Clogher got a sniff of Carrick’s line, in credit to them, they capitalised every time and managed to score 3 unanswered first half tries. The first of these was a rolling maul from a lineout 15m out, they worked it perfectly and crossed in the corner, conversion attempt missed. The second score was rather fortuitous, a clearing kick from “the quiet man” was charged down and bounced perfectly for the Clogher attackers to hack through and score, again no conversion was added. The home side’s 3rd try came during a 10-minute spell before half time when the Carrick scrum got destroyed, first up tackles were being missed and needless penalties were being conceded, most unlike recent performances and way beneath the standards we’ve come to expect from this group of players. The try came after countless pick and drives, most notably by the “ginger Godzilla” a 20 stone mammoth who could run like the wind, (fair dues to James “dump truck” Graham for scrumming against him for 70 minutes!) the ball was moved to the right and the centre found a gap in the Carrick defence to score in the corner, again no extras. Half-time score: Clogher Valley 15 Carrick 0
At half time a look around the Carrick huddle was a sorry sight, “the quiet man” looked like “the dying man” he was so white and so cold, the Carrick back 3 looked like extras from “Titanic” who’d been forgotten and left behind by the crew, dripping wet, teeth chattering and their whole bodies shivering ….. “wee Sam’s” wee Sam would have been even wee’er than normal and even “big chopper” would have been lucky to be average!!
Carrick were urged not to give up, the game was still there to be won, and to their credit they didn’t. A spirited second half display with the wind now at their backs saw Carrick rally. A Clogher scrum on the Carrick 22’ was won against the head, “King Tit” made a break blind, after beating 2 defenders he unleashed Gareth “the terminator” Higgins who made a searing and forceful run into the opposition half, his offload found Jake “Big Chopper” Porter, who had run a great supporting line, he in turn shipped on to Kyle “the whippet” Jordan who rounded the remaining covering defender in the in-goal area to touch down under the posts. “Wee Sam” added the extra 2. This gave Carrick belief, from the kick off a super catch was taken by Marc “look at me my first name looks French” Gordon and set up a ruck on the half way, “the wee general” boxed cleverly and put the Clogher defence under pressure, a knock on gave Carrick great field position. From the scrum Carrick attached through the midfield Pete “you chaps all speak so common, have you seen my holdall on wheels?” Simpson made a fantastic break through the middle and set up a ruck in a great attacking position, the “wee general”, addicted to the box kick as he is, sent up another beauty, his half back partner the “quiet man” was on the same wavelength and chased superbly to snaffle the rolling loose ball, he shipped on to “the whippet” who showed a clean pair of heals to the defence to score. “Wee Sam” again added the extras. Back within 1 point Carrick continued to attack however Clogher were not going to lie down. With the referee seemingly taking heed of every Clogher claim for offside Carrick were quickly pinned back into their own territory. Strong bullocking runs from their pack saw them advance towards the Carrick 22’. One of these runs saw “Ginger Godzilla” turn “the terminator” into “the rotivator” as following an attempted tackle he left him lying on the deck chewing on the muck, eloquently recalled by Billy “hip hip….” Montgomery “you weren’t even a speedbump Gaz cos you didn’t even slow him down”. When Clogher were awarded a penalty just outside the Carrick 22’ they kicked for touch, another brutal rolling maul gave them their 4th try of the day and extended their lead to 6 points.
Carrick remained undeterred and went in search of what would be a winning converted try, great runs by Joel “juicehead” Bell and Jake “whitest legs in the world” Gardner (sorry Jake couldn’t think of anything else) saw Carrick advance into the Clogher half. The hard running lines of the “look at ME’s” and “you chaps” brought Carrick within try scoring range and established a ruck un the Clogher 22’ the ball was recycled and moved left through the slick but freezing hands of the backs until it reached “wee Sam”, he placed a cute grubber in behind the defence and first on the scene to touch down was “the terminator” to notch his 22nd try of the season. “Wee Sam” was never making the kick into a massive wind and alas it fell short. For the remaining 5 minutes Carrick continued to push but again found the referee to be their tormentor. Not for the lack of trying the game fizzled out from a Carrick perspective and they had to be satisfied with a losing bonus point – this was more than it looked like they were going to get after the 1st half. Final score Clogher Valley 20 – Carrick 19.
After enduring a really tough first 40 minutes, Carrick did well to regroup and showed tremendous character and spirit to make a game of it in the second half. No one embodied the commitment and resolve more than Shaun “the flyin Scotsman” Hardie who again showed what a valuable asset he has been to the side this year with another sterling performance …. made all the more notable by the fact that he has now played wing, full back, centre, flanker, second row and on Saturday even played prop for the last 10 minutes of the game.
Next week is another massive challenge – Omagh (joint league leaders) away, a bus has been arranged leaving Carrick at 11.00am and returning at 8.00 pm. All support welcome, anyone wishing to travel please let Eddie Lloyd or Paul McIlwrath know asap.
Carrick team: Sam Wallace 7, Marcus Brush 6 (too cold to play), Pete Simpson 7, Jake Porter 7, Kyle Jordan 7, David Carse 7, Kenny Topping 7, Nathan Greenwood 7, Jack Millar 7, Jonny Mooney 7, Jake Gardner 7, Marc Gordon 7, Joel Bell 7, Richard Higgins 7, James Graham 7, Shaun Hardie 7, Gareth Higgins 7
4th XV v BHSFP 2s (a), Butler Shield semi-final
Semi final of Butler shield against BHSFP and league points for the offering, the Reapers team took to the pitch. With a superb pitch underfoot Carrick faced the wind, the whistle went and the battle began.
On an even keel and an absence of any champagne rugby to offer BHSFP got a penalty and three point lead. The Reapers defense was solid and unbreakable and their best attribute in the first 40 mins. Time after time absorbing attacking runs. The off pitch support from Carrick management and players echoed positively and the Reapers team started to turn the screw, Skinny leading from the front showed determination in driving forward and Bree supported with strong runs. Ian Penny & Andy Magill stopping anything from 6 & 7 position the tide started to change.
Half time encouragement and direction from Glen Picken, Terry McCracken, Eddie Lloyd and David Ferris was much appreciated.
With the wind behind Carrick and playing sensible rugby, a Carrick score in the corner was unfortunately disallowed. However the Reapers lifted from this disappointment and with quick hands Luke parcelled up a gift of a pass to Wes who was never going to allow less than five points, this was followed by scores from Rab & Porter with a conversion from Luke. Bree continued with outstanding individual runs, spinning out of tackles and on one attack landed on the grass holding the ball tight to his chest, the ball stood no chance and burst on impact, an experience that most could not believe their eyes.
17-3 score and final with Harlequins now pending, Bree was awarded man of match by the Reapers captain.
