v’s Rainey OB, A
Carrick Bounce Back
TThe Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV bounced back from last week's defeat to win the
second of their Junior Cup group games, beating Rainey II, away, by 26 points to
14. In a departure from their normal pattern this season, Carrick turned round a
14-3 half-time deficit to score 23 unanswered points in the second half. It was,
in many ways, a curiously subdued game until Carrick got into the lead after twelve
minutes of the second half. Then, the home side threw everything at their guests
in an attempt to regain the lead while Carrick defended heroically and played some
very good rugby on the counter.
The Carrick pack laid the foundations for victory; they were strong in the scrum
and McCracken and Kincaid caused all sorts of problems for the Rainey line-out. In
the loose, particularly in the second half, Carrick did well in winning turnover
ball and there were storming performances from Andy Kincaid and Terry McCracken while
Paul McIlrath was, as usual, tireless as a ball carrier. Behind the scrum, Glen Picken
and Karl Wilkinson controlled matters well, particularly when under pressure in the
second half, and their line kicking was excellent. It was Wilkinson, with his goal-kicking,
who kept Carrick in touch when Rainey looked like they were going open up a comfortable
lead. The Carrick centre pairing of Darren Wady and Trevor McDowell (whose combined
ages probably represent a decent one-day cricket total!) provided a cutting edge
in attack while the young back three did a sterling job in both defence and attack.
Their kicking and chasing put pressure on the Rainey defence and Paul Saberton and
Johnny Sheriff took their tries well. Sheriff looked much more comfortable at full-back
this week while Saberton similarly showed why he is a more potent threat on the wing.
Carrick spent much of the early stages of the game camped in and around the home
side's 22 but it was Rainey who took the lead after eight minutes when, in probably
their only errror of the day, the Carrick back three did not gather an up- and -under
and, aided by a lucky bounce, a Rainey attacker was able to run in unopposed under
the posts. The try was converted to give them a 7 points to nil lead, against the
run of play. Carrick continued to dominate territory but could not find their way
through the solid Rainey defence. In any case, the home side were able , more or
less,to maintain parity in possession. The two areas where Carrick were totally dominant
at this stage were the scrum, for which credit must go to the front row of Blair,
Baxter and Greenaway, pushing Rainey clean off the ball on one occasion, and the
line-out where Rainey were finding it almost impossible to get good clean ball. After
half an hour, Carrick were forced to make a change when Richard Higgins went off
injured and was replaced by Ian McNeill but this didn't, in any way, alter Carrick's
approach or effectiveness. At the end of normal time, Karl Wilkinson got Carrick's
first points with an excellent penalty conversion from the Rainey ten metre line.
However, deep in injury time, the home side extended their lead with a very fortunate
try. Their scrum put in a good wheel to the left on the Carrick 22 and the scrum-half
was able to get a clear run to the line. This was, however, thanks to the referee
getting in the way and completely unsighting the Carrick defenders. The try was converted
to give Rainey a 14 points to 3 half-time lead.
Carrick began the second half needing points quickly and they got three of them courtesy
of another Wilkinson penalty after two minutes.At this stage, Carrick were begining
to put pressure on Rainey and their aggressive defence was forcing the home side
into errors. After seven minutes, and following a huge touch kick by Wilkinson, from
22 to 22, Carrick won a penalty at the line-out and the out-half supplied another
three points from the kick at goal. Five minutes later, the visitors deservedly took
the lead when Saberton gathered a Rainey grubber kick on his own 10-metre line and
outpaced the defence to score. Karl Wilkinson added the points from the conversion
to put Carrick in the lead by 16 points to 14. In the following minutes, the visitors
continued to pressure Rainey and Crothers came very close following up a fly-kick
over the home side's line. However, around the twenty minute mark, Rainey mounted
a sustained period of pressure and, on one occasion appeared to have broken through
but were pulled back for forward pass. Following the scrum, Paul McIlrath found an
excellent touch in the Rainey 22, Andy Kincaid stole the line-out and the pack drove
forward: when the ball was released, Wady worked an excellent loop move with McDowell,
the latter popping up the pass beautifully, to give Sheriff a chance at the line
and the full-back took it well, beating a Rainey defender to go over out wide. This
time, the conversion was missed.After the kick-off, Rainey mounted another series
of attacks but the Carrick defence was solid and they forced a number of turn-overs
to relieve the pressure. With time running out, yet another Carrick line-out steal,
followed by a good piece of kicking and chasing by Picken, set up an attacking position
just inside the home side's half. Following the line-out, Carrick won quick ruck
ball and moved left; Wady broke through the defence and made thirty metres and, although
his pass inside did not go to hand, Saberton kicked ahead, McCracken won the ball
on the ground and Saberton was on hand to gather and go over in the corner. The conversion
was missed, leaving Carrick victors by 26 points to 14.
This was a much better performance by a side not yet at full strength, with the pack
begining to look a match for anyone in the set piece and the backs showing signs
that they can open up defences. Certainly, the wingers and the full back have shown
in recent weeks that, if given chances, they will take them. Carrick will need to
be at their best on Saturday 10 November when they entertain Londonderry YM at Woodlawn.
The Drumahoe-based side are, so far, unbeaten in the League and their only defeat
has been at the hands of Cooke in the Junior Cup.
The Carrick team against Rainey was:
J. Sheriff; D. Crothers, D. Wady, T. McDowell, P. Saberton; K. Wilkinson, G. Picken;
C. Blair, G. Baxter, P. Greenaway, T. McCracken, A. Kincaid, J. Moffett, R. Higgins(I.
McNeill), P. McIlrath(Capt).
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