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Est 1865

v’s Londonderry YM

Carrick win...

Carrick's 2nd XV made their way into the semi-finals of the Crawford Cup with a 26 points to 20 win over Omagh II at Woodlawn on Saturday 21 February. The end result was perhaps closer than it ought to have been but the visitors deserve credit for never giving up despite being out-gunned in several departments. The Carrick scrum had their opponents in trouble from the start, Andy Kincaid was a dominating presence throughout and he and Terry McCracken provided a good service from the line-out while the back row of Matt Hadden, Ross Crymble and Mark Patterson put in a tremendous performance in the loose. However, on this occasion the plaudits have to go to the backs, particularly left winger Kyle Jordan for his hat-trick of tries which earned him the "man of the match" award. Kris James was quietly influential and was involved in most of the try-scoring moves while his centre partner, Daryl Crothers, regularly got across the gain line.

Playing with the strong breeze in the first half, Carrick got off to a slow start in what was a very scrappy first quarter. However, in the twentieth minute that changed when Kyle Jordan scored the first of his three tries. The ball was moved across the backs on half-way and a well-timed pass from James gave Jordan space on the outside and he completely "skinned" the Omagh full-back to score in the corner. The try was not converted. Then, virtually from the kick-off, Carrick ran at Omagh and a break from Crothers and a neat inside pass allowed Jordan to out-pace the defence once again and score under the posts. Johnny Sheriff added the conversion points. Carrick seemed to ease off after this and let Omagh right back into the match in the thirty-third minute when they scored from a charged down kick. The try was not converted.and the score remained at 12 points to 5 until half-time.

Playing into the breeze in the second half, Carrick needed to put more daylight between themselves and their opponents and this they duly did in the seventh minute with a try from Andy Kincaid. The move started with a tap penalty and was kept alive through good work by Nugent and James before Kincaid forced his way over from a ruck close to the Omagh line. Johnny Sheriff again added the points. For rhe next fifteen minutes or so, Omagh were allowed to dominate territory and got their reward with tries in the fifteenth and twenty-fifth minutes. The first was from a catch and drive at a line-out and the second came as the result of good picking and driving by their forwards. Only the first of the tries was converted but this meant that the visitors were now just two points behind. Carrick began to re-assert themselves and took the gap beyond two scores with the third of Jordan's tries on thirty-two minutes. The initial break was made by Crothers, the ball was re-cycled and Jordan beat three defenders to score under the posts. The try was converted by Johnny Sheriff to give Carrick a 26 points to 17 lead. However, Omagh came right back at them and reduced the deficit with penalty at the end of normal time and then ran the ball from the kick off in an effort to get the winning score. The Carrick defence held firm though and the next break-down brought the final whistle with Carrick victorious by 26 points to 20.

The Carrick II’s team was:

R. Ford; I. Turner, D. Crothers, K. James, K. Jordan; J. Sheriff, L. Totten; C. Blair(Capt), M. Nugent, J. Hagen, A. Kincaid, T. McCracken, M. Hadden, R. Crymble, M. Patterson.

The 3rds had their most convincing win of the season with, a tremendous 61 pts to 15 pts demolition of Ballyclare 4s. The scores came from Marty Reid 2. Andy Dodge, Curtis Gilmore, Alan Haire, Gareth Clarke, with Neil McGookin being awarded the man of the match for his hat trick, while Alan Waide converted 8 out of 9 of the conversions.

Competition for places is expected to get even tighter over the next couple of weeks, with plenty of league games to be played, as well as the Crawford Cup semi-final, so the message from the coaches is get training to earn your position.

The youth also enjoyed a hat trick, with all 3 age groups beating Randalstown, which includes a 17 pts to 5 pts win for the U18s with Jason Wady getting a brace of tries. Good luck to Jason and the boys who play on Wednesday night against Banbridge in the Knutty Crust Cup at Portadown.

The minis travelled to Ballyclare and as always acquitted themselves well against the superior numbers of the opposition.

Congratulations to the Grammar for winning the Schools Trophy on Wednesday 34 pts to 26 pts in a very entertaining final. I believe that Captain Andrew McIlroy and the boys are still celebrating. Also well done to Downshire who progressed to the next round of the High Schools Cup but unfortunately at expense of their local rivals the College.

Finally to all the players who ordered the club polo shirts, if you do not get them off me by the end of this week I will start selling them to the general membership.  

Also on Saturday, all three of the youth teams beat their Randalstown opposite numbers.

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.Match Reports, 21-02-09