v’s Londonderry YM, H
Carrick lose
The Maxol-sponsored Carrick 1st XV suffered their third League defeat of the season
on Saturday 10 November, going down at Woodlawn by 22 points to 15 to unbeaten Londonderry
YM. Again not at full strength, Carrick's defeat can be put down to a combination
of a number of recurring problems. Not for the first time this season, they failed
to take advantage of the breeze at their backs in the second half and this, in combination
with some poor handling and slack defending, cost them a game which they could have
won. Although under pressure in the scrum, McCracken and Kincaid again did a good
job in disrupting the YM line-out. However, the visitors were strong in the loose
and did well at the breakdown, partly because they were allowed to get away with
slowing the ball down and in this, and other areas, they operated on the fringes
of legality some of the time. This is not to take credit away from them; they were
well organised and their strong running backs took their chances when they came.
Carrick got off to a great start when Paul Greenaway forced his way over early on,
following a series of scrums on the YM line, and Karl Wilkinson added the points.
The visitors then hit back on ten minutes when they broke the Carrick defensive line
to score near the posts. The try was converted to level the scores. Seven minutes
later they took the lead when they forced their way over as a result of a well executed
series of "picks and go" close to the Carrick line. This try was not converted. There
then followed Carrick's best period of the match when, into a stiff breeze and by
keeping the ball in hand, they dominated territory and possession for about fifteen
minutes. They came close on a number of occasions, most notably on twenty-eight minutes
when full-back Paul Saberton made a nice break and beat two defenders before being
hauled down just short of the YM line. In the end, Carrick's only reward was an excellently
struck penalty kick by Karl Wilkinson in the thirty-third minute. Five minutes later,
and somewhat against the run of play, YM got their third try when they stole Carrick
ball at a maul and their No 8 was allowed to make forty metres to the line. Again,
the try was not converted and half-time was reached with YM leading by 17 points
to 10.
Carrick began the second half well and had the visitors under pressure for the first
five minutes. However, partly as a result of handling errors , and partly because
of solid defending by YM, they could not capitalise, even when their opponents had
a player sent to the bin for persistent offending at the break-down. The visitors
gradually took control of territory and possession in the second half, aided by the
high Carrick error count. However, it was not until the thirtieth minute of the half
that the next score came. The visitors broke the gain line on half-way and their
full-back made forty metres to score in the corner. While the try was well taken,
YM were helped by some very slack Carrick defending. The try was not converted, to
leave YM leading by 22 points to 10. Carrick's high error rate continued to frustrate
them despite the creation of platforms for attacks on a number of occasions in the
last ten minutes. They did get a consolation score deep in injury time when centre
Niall Johnston folllowed up well to gather an up and under and score wide out on
the right. The try was not converted to leave Londonderry YM victors by 22 points
to 15.
Although deservedly beaten in the end, the positive for Carrick in is that, had it
not been for their own mistakes, they could have won the game. This gives them something
to work on before next week's visit to Bangor when Carrick will be seeking to avenge
their defeat at the hands of the Co Down side in the first League match of the season.
The Carrick team against Londonderry YM was:
P.Saberton; D. Crothers, N. Johnston, D. Wady, J. Sheriff; K. Wilkinson, G. Picken;
C. Blair, G. Baxter, P. Greenaway, T. McCracken, A.Kincaid, J. Moffett, R. Marsden,
P. McIlrath(Capt).
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