The Carrick Rugby Report: Seniors fall short and big wins in youth ranks

Seniors

Carrick-on-Shannon 14
Monivea 30

Carrick-on-Shannon travelled to league leaders Monivea on Sunday for what proved to be a fast, physical and entertaining contest.

Monivea started strongly and immediately put Carrick under pressure, forcing the visitors to concede an early penalty, which was duly converted. Carrick’s defence worked hard in the opening minutes, but another infringement in front of the posts allowed Monivea to stretch their lead to 6–0.

Carrick began to find their own rhythm and enjoyed a spell of possession, but Monivea continued to threaten. Their outstanding full-back made the first of several decisive breaks, cutting down the right wing before linking play wide for a try in the corner.

The conversion was missed, but moments later Monivea struck again, this time the same full-back breaking down the left flank to touch down, pushing the home side into a commanding 17–0 lead.

Carrick responded well and made several breaks up the field in open play, but could not make their pressure count until finally working their way inside the Monivea 22. After a series of strong carries close to the line, Denis McCaffrey powered over for Carrick’s opening try. Daniel Bosquette added the conversion to bring Carrick back into the game at 17–7.

Against the run of play, however, Monivea struck again before halftime. Another attack down the left wing saw the home side cross in the corner, and this time the conversion was added to give Monivea a 25–7 advantage at the break.

Carrick emerged for the second half with renewed intensity and began to dominate possession. Their forwards carried relentlessly, and the backs linked well to stretch the Monivea defence, who began to concede penalties under pressure. Despite this dominance, Monivea again showed their threat on the counter, and their in-form full-back produced yet another breakaway try to extend the lead to 30–7.

READ MORE: Leitrim customers asked to donate food at Tesco stores this Christmas

From the restart, Carrick mounted another sustained assault. Phase after phase brought them repeatedly inside the Monivea five-metre line, and their persistence finally paid off when Stephen Guckian crossed the line for Carrick’s second try, converted again by Daniel Bosquette to make it 30–14.

Carrick continued to push har,d but time was against them. Despite an excellent second-half display and long periods of dominance, the gap proved too much to claw back as Monivea held on for a 30–14 victory.

Carrick now turn their attention to a huge home clash with Claremorris next Sunday at 2.30pm in Castlecarra. Supporters are strongly encouraged to come out and get behind the lads.

Carrick: D. Foley, D Flanagan, J. Haven, D. Bosquette, N. Adams, P. Charles, B. King, I. Cullen, B. Flannery, S. McGuinness, D. Kelly, E. Feely, T. Finch, G. Barry, D. McCaffrey S. Guckian, R. McCaffrey, P. Lavin and D. Adams

Under 15s

Carrick-On-Shannon 52
Dunmore RFC 22

Carrick’s Under 15 Boys welcomed Dunmore on Saturday in perfect weather conditions with the pitch in good condition.
Dunmore had a perfect run in their Division 1A campaign so far this season, beating two strong sides, Creggs RFC and Sligo RFC, in their first two games of the season. Carrick had an unbeaten run until their defeat against Creggs two weeks ago, and whilst still top of Division 1A, a loss against Dunmore would put the Carrick side under pressure for the rest of the season.

Carrick started well, but missed two early opportunities to score. Carrick eventually made up for the two missed opportunities and scored a well-worked try from a quick tap penalty, which was converted from wide. Carrick was quick to strike again with a converted try to take a lead of 14-0.

When in possession, Dunmore tested Carrick’s back three with kicks, but Carrick did well to counter and was clinical in the breakdown giving Carrick plenty of platform to attack from and scored another try to take a lead of 19-0.

A bit of complacency caused Carrick to be overturned at the breakdown, which gave Dunmore the momentum needed. Another kick to Carrick’s back three favoured Dunmore on the bounce and led to a try in the corner, which was elevated to a penalty try due to a high tackle leading into the try. Carrick were down to 14 leading 19-7, but managed to score another unconverted try before to make the half-time score 24-7.

READ MORE: Leitrim schools celebrate double Connacht Championship success

Carrick started well in the second half, turning up the speed of play and asking questions of Dunmore with strong ball carrying by forwards combined with good distribution of the ball amongst Carrick’s backline. A tired looking Dunmore struggled to keep up with the pace and conceded several tries to give Carrick a lead of 45-7 with 15 minutes to go. Several changes in Carrick’s 15 stopped Carrick’s momentum for a period, which gave Dunmore renewed energy, putting pressure on Carrick’s defence, which lead to three unconverted tries to narrow the gap to 45-22.

With the last play of the game, Carrick scored a brilliant try from their own 10 metre line with a brilliant individual run down the touch line to score under the post to make the final score 55-22. A dominant display from Carrick was played in good spirit by both teams.

Carrick travel to Galway Bay in two weeks for their next league match.
Carrick: C. McGovern, H. Kiliszek-Sromak, R. O'Shaughnessy, S. McGirl, J. McGarry, H Hanrahan, Q. Joubert, A. McNamara, I. Mulvey, L. Durkin, N. Guckian, N. Taylor, S. McTeigue, D. O'Connell, N. Zondagh, N. Washington, N. Finlay, B. Flynn.

U13s

Carrick on Shannon 24
Sligo 17
A cool, foggy early afternoon kick-off last Sunday at Castlecara produced another chapter of the local Carrick / Sligo derby.
Carrick had a point to prove after a difficult journey to Hamilton Park a few weeks back.

A very tense first few minutes with both teams showing maturity in skill sets, with both strong carries and good ball protection. A fantastic piece of ball skill led to a kick chase, and Carrick broke the deadlock, crossing the Sligo line. Conversion followed from Carrick’s 10.

Sligo were straight back into the fight, pressuring the Carrick lads from the restart. Some strong Sligo carries saw them cross the Carrick line. Conversion missed by Sligo. Carrick left 2 chances behind on their next visit to the Sligo 22 with good Sligo defence. More Carrick pressure led to a forward's try. Conversion from Carrick followed.

As half time approached a massive Sligo forwards carry saw them cross the line again, and with the conversion missed, the score was Carrick 14 Sligo 12.

The second half started again as an edgy battle, but Carrick worked their way into the Sligo 22 and won a penalty, a successful kick for goal stretched their lead to 5 points. A sign of maturity in decision-making by these young men to attend the kick and keep the scoreboard ticking.

Sligo responded well and broke through Carrick's defence following too many missed tackles, to cross the line, conversion missed. Carrick 17 Sligo 17 with seven minutes to play.

Carrick rallied and not an inch was the cry by the lads. A fantastic team effort saw them work upfield and following a lovely offload score fifteen metres in from the touchline. Conversion followed successfully against a slightly whipping wind.

The nailbiting last two minutes saw Carrick baton down the hatches and see it out with a massive roar when the ball was kicked to touch at match end. A massive step up from this amazing bunch.

Huge thanks to our home support and in particular, to our amazing hospitality team for making it a really special day as always. Special word of thanks to our match official, Nato Zondagh, for an exemplary job in both officiating and educating both teams, very much appreciated.

Carrick: H. Butler, A. Fee, C. McGirl, H. Gunn, T. Convey, C. McBrien, J. McKeon, B. McGreevy, J. Canning, D Moore, F Kelly, S. Barra-Murphy, S Og Guckian, D. Nolan, H. Kieran
Subs: E. Christy, K. McTague, K. Regan, J. Feely, N. Connaire, K. Keane, J. Hughes, S. Harte, G. Casey, C. Beirne and N. Doyle.