Date: 22nd October 2011

Under 17 v B’Money 41-17 (H)
Under 15 v B’Money 48-10 (H)
Under 13 v B’Money 34-19 (H)

Carrick RFC Youth sponsored by NK Ltd, continued their league campaigns with 3 home wins against fellow junior club Ballymoney. Carrick entered these important league fixtures a little rusty as their training programmes continue to be hampered by poor weather conditions.

Under 13s
At U13 level Carrick recorded a 34-19 winning score line despite not really displaying a convincing performance. Up front the Carrick pack lacked ferocity at ruck time and lost too high a percentage of their own possession. What was encouraging was the quality offloading that the forwards did display on occasion and the support play, in particular, shown by Gareth Hartley and Ryan Davis. Carrick playing with the wind in the first half led 19- 10 at the break and faced a difficult second half playing into the worsening conditions.

In the second period of play Carrick made a large number of rotational substitutions and Ballymoney began to dominate large passages of play. Only solid defensive work from the back line kept the visitors out on a number of occasions. Carrick took the pressure of themselves by scoring two breakaway tries leaving Ballymoney with a large deficit to overcome. To their credit Ballymoney attacked relentlessly and scored a further two scores. At the final whistle Carrick were glad to get the win but know that much hard work is required on the training pitch if they are to remain competitive in this demanding league.
Match of the match went to centre Connor Gascoigne for his individual display of strong running throughout the match.

Final Score: Carrick U13s 34 Ballymoney U13s 19

Under 15s
Carrick U15s secured another league victory at Tom Simms Memorial Park against a spirited Ballymoney on Saturday morning.
A five try first half haul allowed the home coaches to introduce the bench early on in the second half & although this allowed the visitors the luxury of two consolations tries the result was never in doubt.

Again the play was built on a strong Carrick scrum & an efficient lineout which gave the backs time & space to freely express themselves.
As early as the first minutes of the game the home front row laid down a marker taking Ballymoneys scrum feed against the head, Rory Magill who had another fine outing added to his tight head total as the game progress & once again weighed in with a thunderous turn over tackle later in the game.

Sam Wallace was mischief maker in chief & his break allowed forward pressure which resulted in Corrie Kelly crossing for another of his trademark tries. A strong scrum on the right allowed Carrick to execute a planned move for Matthew Fisher to crash over before Wallace brought the forwards to within striking distance. The out half then took advantage of quickly recycled ball to dot down to the right of the ruck, he then converted his own try. Fisher crossed again shortly afterwards with Carrick firmly in control & the visitors all at sea. The ever industrious Jake Gardener got his reward for his first half endeavors with a well taken try

Half time Carrick U15s 27 Ballymoney 0

The second half started in dramatic fashion with the forwards giving great chase to Wallace’s kick off, the Ballymoney reception was disrupted by the arriving Carrick forwards & the ball found its was into Fishers hands for him to run unopposed behind the posts for his hat trick of tries. Wallace added the bonus points. The Carrick coaches introduced a raft of changes right away with the very patient Carrick replacements getting vital game time.

As often happens this can take the impetus out of the game & it took a while for several players experiencing new positions to get their bearings. It was quickly back to business however with quick ball being moved left, Dylan McDowell was as usual running good support lines & his angled run against the grain saw him cut through a wrong footed Ballymoney defence. The winger scored below the sticks allowing Wallace to add the conversion.

The home coaches then another made a host of merry go round positional changes with forwards & backs interchanging & being asked to operate outside their comfort zone. One such change saw Fisher running in the outside half channel on a route one ball for him to complete the try scoring and gifting Wallace the conversion points. Ballymoney to their credit kept playing & scored two late tries against a much changed finishing Carrick XV. It was most pleasing to see a sizeable gallery of family, friends & other club supporters on the touchline cheering on the efforts of this talented group, the team & coaches are most grateful for that continuing support.

Scorers Corrie Kelly T ,Matt Fisher 4T ,Sam Wallace T4Cons ,Jake Gardner T,Dylan McDowell T.

Final score – Carrick U15s 48 Ballymoney U15s 10

Under 17s
At U17s level B’money could only field 9 players for the fixture and after conceding the points to Carrick a friendly fixture was played with several of the home squad guesting for the opposition. After what was a very competitive and enjoyable game of rugby Carrick came out 41-17 victors with 10 of the visitors’ points coming from touchdowns by the home side! The U17s remain unbeaten in the league but know there are much more challenging fixtures awaiting them in the run up to Christmas.