The tournament began on Friday 3rd May with the now traditional Under 19s competition sponsored by Samurai. In the semi-finals of the Cup competition, defending champions Surrey Colts overcame Queen’s Barbarians while, in a somewhat tighter contest, EdinburghCollege beat BRA Big Dogs, out-scoring their opponents by three tries to one. The final shaped up to be a close contest but, with play held up for a lengthy spell for a serious injury to one of the Scottish visitors, Surrey Colts adapted better after the interruption and came back from two tries to one down to win the title , and the Everest Cup, for the third time with three unanswered tries in the second half. Newsletter player of the competition was Henry Cheeseman of Surrey Colts. The Plate competition was won by Larne Vikings who beat Cookie Monsters from Portadown in the final. Malone took the Bowl with victory over Rainey’s Rejects from Belfast High School.

The Quigg Golden Open on Saturday 4th May was dominated from start to finish by the NGN 7s team organised to honour the memories of Noel, Graham and Nevin Spence. The team, based around Ballynahinch RFC for which Graham and Nevin played, ran in a feast of tries in poll victories over Hawick Linden, Jack Wills and Newcastle Exiles. They then swept aside Thunder Ducks (Malone) in the semi-final before comprehensively beating Queen’s Pirates in the final. Queen’s had themselves had a convincing victory over the Eagles( a mainly Fijian side) in the other semi-final. The Newsletter player of the competition award went to Aaron Cairns of NGN 7s. Mrs Marlene Holmes presented the Holmes Salver to the winning Captain at the end of proceedings. As a result of the efforts of the NGN team and their organisers the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children and the Oscar Knox Appeal will both benefit.
On Saturday, the Plate competition was won by defending Open champions Ulster Exiles who beat Akuna Pink Panthers in the final. The Willis Bowl was won by Edinburgh College with victory over Carrick Warriors in their final.

On Sunday 5th May, the Manvik Qualifying Sevens and the Abbey Insurance Ladies 10′s were both keenly contested affairs. In the Ladies competition, the semi-finals brought victory for defending Champions Queen’s and five times winners Cooke. In the final, Cooke started well and scored the first try but, as the game wore on, Queen’s gained the upper hand and ran out winners by three tries to one. The Newsletter player of the competition award went to Stacey Lee of Cooke for strong performances throughout the tournament.
The Manvik Qualifying competition was dominated by defending champions CIYMS and Bangor in the pool stages although hosts Carrick, after a poor start against Bangor in their pool game came within one converted try of causing an upset and, had their handling and ball retention been better in the closing stages, they might well have done so. As it was Carrick went on to meet CIYMS in the Cup semi-final and, again, made a poor start but fought back to put themselves into a position were they could have won the tie. However,they could not free up the ball on a number of occasions when a try was on and in the end went down by three tries to two. In the other semi-final Bangor beat PSNI, running away with the game in the second half. The final was a hard fought affair but CIYMS took a grip on the game in the first half, out-scoring Bangor by three tries to one, and then matched their opponents two tries in the second half with two of their own to run out deserved winners. Newsletter player of the competition went to Paddy Dornan of Bangor who was prominent in both attack and defence in all of Bangor’s games.

The Plate final was contested between the losing semi-finalists and Carrick, in running in seven tries to win comfortably against PSNI, showed what might have been had their concentration just been a bit better against Bangor and CIYMS earlier in the competition. The Carrick try scorers were Kyle Jordan(three), Aaron McKinney, Glen Picken, Johnny Sheriff and Steve Irwin. The Bowl competition was won by Ballyclare who beat Larne in the final.

This was another very successful Sevens for Carrickfergus RFC and their sponsors. The attendances were good on the Saturday and Sunday and, although the rain did undoubtedly affect numbers for the Under 19s competition on Friday evening, the social activities were by all accounts well supported.Hopefully, if economic circumstances change, we will in the near future return to larger entries, particularly from “across the water”.

Members are asked to note that the date of the Annual General Meeting has been provisionally set forThursday 23^rd May 2013 at 8.00pm.

Notice of this date, together with the agenda for the meeting, will be issued not less than seven days before the AGM to all voting members who are eligible to attend (i.e. Playing; House; Life; and Honorary members).

Any member who does not receive an AGM pack should contact the Honorary Secretary.

Any member wishing to have an item of business placed on the agenda must notify the Secretary in writing not later than 9^th  May 2013.

Your attendance would be appreciated.

Peter Luney

Honorary Secretary

U15s Cup final confirmed as 3.00pm ko on sat 4th. May at Ravenhill

ALL SUPPORT WELCOME!

Carrick U15s, sponsored by NK Ltd, secured a place in the Ulster Carpets U15 Youth Cup final at Ravenhill on Saturday 4th May (time to be confirmed). In a hard fought semi final the team travelled to Donegal RFC and secured a 15-10 win.

Unfortunately the Under 17s narrowly lost out on their own Ravenhill final losing 17pts to 10 against Ballymena.

1st XV

The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV were well beaten by Enniskillen, going down by 48 points to 20. With seven 1st XV squad members not available, Carrick were always going to find it difficult against the team sitting third in the League table and, despite a spirited third quarter fight-back, so it proved. The task became even more difficult when the home side lost Robbie Williams, playing out of position at blind side flanker, late in the first half. Until late in the game, honours were pretty well even in scrum and line-out, where Mark Patterson, Chris Rogers and Daryl Smith did well for Carrick, but the visitors always had the edge in the loose. Their hard running forwards, especially the blind side wing forward, breached the gain line on numerous occasions and this led directly to a couple of tries. Enniskillen’s kick and chase game, especially with the breeze behind them in the first half, was also highly effective. However, as Carrick were to discover in the third quarter, the visitors’ mid-field defence could be breached and was, on two occasions, with alarming ease. For Carrick, Glen Picken had a solid game at scrum-half and filled in well as goal-kicker. Johnny Moore had a good debut at full-back and winger Reece Hamilton showed his attacking potential on the few occasions he was given the chance. In the pack,Adam Gibney carried strongly and Mark Patterson was busy in the loose as well as in the line-out. John Anderson and Aaron McKinney produced a number of line breaks and each opened up the Enniskillen mid-field for a well-taken try apiece.

The early stages of the game were fairly even and Carrick led by 6 points to 3 after ten minutes with two Glen Picken penalties against one from Enniskillen. However, after fifteen minutes the visitors scored their first try when one of their second row forwards went over in the corner following quickly re-cycled ball and a line-break in mid-field. The try was not converted. From this point on, Enniskillen began to look the more threatening and extended their lead after twenty-five minutes when their outsanding No 6 broke through from the Carrick 10 metre line and set up quick ruck ball for one of their props to go over in the corner.  Again, the try was not converted but the same the blind side flanker extended the visitors’ lead with a great individual effort from close to half-way after thirty-five minutes. This try was converted and Enniskillen led by 20 points to 6 at the break.

The second half started disastrously for Carrick when their defence was breached once again and Enniskillen went over in the corner for their fourth try.. This try was converted. There then began something of a Carrick fight-back With one of the visitors in the bin for deliberately going off-side to prevent Carrick getting quick ball from a ruck on the Enniskillen line, the home began to put on some pressure. They were rewarded after twelve minutes of the half when Captain Aaron McKinney scored an excellent try; a well-timed pass from John Anderson at out-half put him into space and he stepped two defenders to score near the posts.Glen Picken added the conversion points and then ,five minutes, later John Anderson went right through the Enniskillen mid-field after going left and then switching the direction of the attack to the right. Again, Glen Picken added the points and, with the score at 27-20,it  seemed that a famous recovery might be on the cards. However, it was not to be as Enniskillen re-asserted their dominance and hit back with tries after twenty-five, thirty-one and thirty -five minutes of the half. All were converted to give the final score of 48 points to 20.

This may well have been Carrick’s last match of the season- there is some doubt about whether the postponed match with Grosvenor will be played – and, if so,it is a disappointing way to finish.

The Carrick team which faced Enniskillen was:

J. Moore; R.Hamilton, K. Love, A. McKinney(Capt), B. Alexander; J. Anderson, G. Picken; E. Peacock, N. Hanna, A. Gibney, D. Smith, C. Rogers, R. Williams, M. Patterson, R.McGonigle.

Sunday’s final was the culmination of a very successful season for the Carrick Ladies having suffered only one defeat in the League so far this year, at the hands of their Ballymoney rivals, so the final was destined to be a close contest. Setting the pace right from the whistle, Carrick charged up the pitch from their kick off and turned over the first ruck, winning possession in Ballymoney territory which resulted in a penalty kicked by outside centre Arlene Devine, and points on the board for Carrick within the first five minutes of play. A relentless, physical contest followed for the remainder of the first half, with periods of possession and attempts on the line by both sides. The well drilled Carrick defence withstood the pressure from the Ballymoney pack, repeatly turning over the ball in rucks and mauls, but no tries were forthcoming. A second penalty from Devine left the half time score 6-0 to Carrick.

A yellow card against Ballymoney no. 8 Julie Newton for a closed-fisted handoff just before half time left Carrick one man up at the start of the second half, but Carrick were unable to take advantage as their repeated attempts at the line were held up. The determination paid off however, and in a terrific passage of play by Carrick’s back line, Aimee Ellis fed the ball out to Hilary Cawood who charged through the Ballymoney defence to score under the posts. The conversion by Devine brought the score to 13-0.

The valiant Ballymoney side fought back, but a try by Newton in the final minutes of the game was too little too late, and the Carrick Ladies finished victorious – final score 13-5.

Carrick ladies have seen change this past season, in terms of both  players and coaching staff. Several new faces have graced the club and each individual, old and new, has contributed towards this season’s league win through dedication, hard work and determination. This effort has paid off, with the team going from relegation to winning their league with only one defeat, in just one season. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is the fact that several of the new players had never previously set foot on a rugby pitch and coaches Nikki and Alan were also undertaking the challenge of their first coaching season. The ladies and Alan are delighted with their victory and look forward to a successful sevens tournament.

It was also quarter-finals weekend for the NK Group sponsored youth teams. And although the U13s lost to Armagh U13′s there was victory for our other two teams.

·       U15s beat Banbridge by 42 points to 15 and will play Donegal (away) on Saturday in the semi-final.

·       U17s beat Armagh 43 points to 11 and will play Ballymena (away) on Saturday in their semi-final.

The coaches and players would welcome as much travelling support as possible so if you can go to either match please make the effort. (And if you have room in your car, take some friends!!)