Saturday 5 November 2011

Carrickfergus 3rd XV had an impressive 52-0 win against Ballymena IVs but this was the only good news story on a disappointing weekend.

1st XV

The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV went down to their second League defeat when they lost by 18 points to nil to Omagh at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 5 November. While it would be stretching the truth to say that Carrick should have won this game, they certainly could had they taken their chances, especially in the first half. For most of the first half, and part of the second, the home side had the better of both possession and territory but could not turn this into points.There were at least four try-scoring chances in the first half and two of these certainly should have been taken.The primary problem seemed to be a lack of awareness of the location of support runners and, when passes were made, they were either too late or too early or the ball did not go to hand at all. To give credit to Omagh, their defence was first rate and, if Carrick didn’t take their chances in the first half, Omagh didn’t allow them to create too many in the second. Altough under pressure in the scrum, the Carrick pack put in a good performance against bigger opponents and they probably shaded the batttle in the loose. Mark Patterson, Ross Crymble, Andy Kincaid and Glen Baxter were prominent as ball carriers and Chris Ferris and Curtis Rea did well under some pressure in the line-out. It was a pity that their efforts could not be rewarded on the score-board.

On a near perfect day for rugby, Carrick began strongly, using the helping breeze to keep Omagh in their own half and enjoying a lot of possession. In the first fifteen minutes, Jason Wady produced two excellent line-breaks which Carrick should have been able to capitalise on but didn’t because the wrong options were taken. However, it was Omagh who , against the run of play,eventually opened the scoring when they went over from a 5-metre scrum for which they had opted in place of a penalty kick at goal. The try was not converted and Carrick resumed their dominance of possession and territory, spurning another chance when the ball-carrier held on too long with a clear three on one out-side him! It was perhaps inevitable that Omagh would get the next points which they duly did from a penalty three minutes before the break.

The third quarter was like much of the first half, with Carrick playing in the right areas and having the majority of possession but they were unable to create any real try-scoring chances and, for this, the Omagh defence must get credit.Gradually, though, the visitors began to take control and extended their lead with a penalty half-way through the second half and then put the game beyond Carrick with a well exectued try from a scrum on the home side’s 22. Quick transfer put their wininger in space and he went over in the corner. This try was converted to put Omagh ahead by 18 points to nil. Although there was the odd Carrick flurry in the closing minutes, the Omagh defence was well on top and held out until full-time with relative ease.

This was not a good performance by Carrick and they will need to improve before they meet their Junior Cup conquerers, University of Ulster, Coleraine ,in their next League game on 19th November.
The Carrick team against Omagh was: J. Sheriff; G. Clarke, D. Kirkpatrick, J. Wady, K. Quinn; A. McKinney, M. Patterson; E. McBrien, G. Baxter, D. McKeen(Capt), C. Ferris, A. Kincaid, M. Patterson, R. Crymble, C. Rea.

Under 19s
The IBS sponsored Carrick Under 19s travelled to Randalstown where they suffered their first defeat of the season, going down by 13 points to 10. Carrick started brightly, with Nathan Wilson making a big impact, but a controversially disallowed try, and a few more poor refereeing decisions, unsettled Carrick and Randalstown gained enough control to lead by 6 points to nil at the break.

The visitors began the second half brightly and reduced the deficit with a long range Adam Kendell penalty. However, some poor defending allowed Randalstown to score a try which was converted to give them a 13 points to nil lead. This galvinised the Carrick pack who used the driving maul to push into the home side’s territory and eventually resulted in a try from close range by Stuart Davis. Adam Kendell added the conversion. Despite strong rumnning in the closing stages from Ryan McKay, Johnny Murray and Ethan Clarke, Randalstown’s defence held and Carrick could not get the winning score. Despite this set-back, Carrick remain top of the League and will be looking for an improvement when they return to action on Saturday week.

Other results
The 5th XV lost to Ballymena 5s by 12 points to 31.

Fixtures for Saturday 12th November are:-
2nd XV vs Omagh II, home
4th XV vs PSNI II, home
5th XV vs Queen’s IV, away