The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV recorded one of their biggest wins in recent seasons when they beat Grosvenor by 61 points to nil at Tom Simms Memorial Park on Saturday 7 March. In a one-sided match, Carrick ran in ten unanswered tries, had the try bonus point secure by half-time and would undoubtedly have had more tries if the referee had not decided blow for full-time about fifteen minutes early.

Despite a few problems in the scrum early on and a strong breeze making line-out throwing difficult, the home side were on top throughout, dominating the break-down and using quick ball to play some enterprising rugby with both backs and forwards involved. The only period when the visitors had any sustained possession was in the early stages of the second half when Carrick were down to fourteen men because of a yellow card but Grosvenor could not unlock the Carrick defence and, towards the end of the sin-bin period, conceded yet another try. There were good performances all round in what was a very good team performance from Carrick but mention must be made of the contributions of Aaron McKinney who got a hat-trick of tries in the first half, Ross Crymble who got two tries and was involved in several more and Johnny Cullen who capped another fine performance with probably the best try of the match. Andy Kinkaid produced one of his barn-storming performances and scored a try and made another for Aaron McKinney while Robbie Williams, who seems to have an affinity for the blind -side role to which he was switched when Michael Smylie came on as a substitute at half-time, grabbed two tries.

Carrick started in determined fashion and had their opponents under pressure from the start. The first points came after three minutes when Luke Whittall put over a penalty. Five minutes later, Ross Crymble finished off a move in which the ball was moved left and then right before Luke Whittall made a
break down the right hand touchline and passed inside to his right winger to race in for the touch-down. Luke Whittall added the conversion points. The home side went further ahead after twenty minutes when Curtis Rea produced a fine side-step to wrong-foot the Grosvenor defence and run in from forty metres out to score. Ross Crymble was involved twice in the build-up to the try, the first time in making an acrobatic leap to prevent a Grosvenor penalty kick finding touch. Luke Whittall again added the points to give Carrick a 17 points to nil lead. A few minutes later, Aaron McKinney scored the first of his tries when he intercepted a Grosvenor pass to race in from his own 10 metre line. This try was not converted but the home side extended their lead when Andy Kinkaid ran back a kick from just outside his own 22 deep into the Grosvenor half before passing to McKinney who touched down for his second try. Again the conversion was missed but Carrick scored their fifth try coming up to the half-hour mark when they mounted an attack off turn-over ball and went through the phases before Jason Wady made ground up the right hand touchline and passed to Ross Crymble who got the touch-down. The try was not converted but Aaron McKinney put Carrick into a 37 points to nil half-time lead when he raced thirty metres to score in the corner following a break by Ross Crymble.

The second half was barely a minute old when Johnny Cullen produced an elegant side-step to wrong-foot the Grosvenor defence before running between two defenders to score. Again the try was not converted and Grosvenor began to have a little more of the play when the home side were reduced to fourteen men following a sin-binning. However, despite having about five minutes or so of territory and possession, the visitors could not make any impression on the Carrick defence and it was the home side who scored again towards the end of the sin bin period. This time, Andy Kinkaid came through the middle of a ruck, picked up and ran forty metres to the line, bursting through a couple of attempted tackles and reaching out to touch down as he was brought down just short of the line. Again the try was not converted but Carrick were now so much on top they seemed able to score at will and did so when Robbie Williams picked up a loose ball at a ruck and dived over and then, a couple of minutes later, the same player raced in from thirty metres out following a good off-load by Michael Smylie. Both tries were converted to give Carrick a 61 points to nil lead and, after the second, the referee decided that Grosvenor had had enough and blew up with fifteen or so minutes remaining.

Another very good performance by Carrick but, after facing Holywood at Tom Simms Memorial Park this week-end, they will face sterner opposition in their final two League games against Academy and Omagh.

The Carrick team which faced Grosvenor was:-
A.McKinney; R. Crymble, J. Cullen(Capt), J. Sheriff, P. Simpson; L. Whittall, K. Topping; A. Gibney, N. Hanna, R. Williams, A. Kinkaid, C. Rodgers, C. Rea (M. Fisher), R. Marsden( M. Smylie), R. McGonigle.