Another Connacht crown for Carrick RFC

Carrick's U18.5 team finished off their season in style with a 40-10 win over Loughrea in the Connacht Plate Final on Sunday afternoon. 

Played in warm sunshine at Buccaneer's RFC in Athlone, the conditions were perfect for fast flowing rugby, which both sides delivered. Loughrea set the early pace with great attacking intent, but Carrick absorbed the early pressure and on seven minutes, Diarmuid O'Connell picked up a loose ball and broke down the middle to score under the posts. 

Carrick, with their tails up, pressed again and on 15 minutes, O'Connell struck again, powering over the line after a period of cohesive Carrick pressure. Smarting from Carrick's early tries, Loughrea scored their first points of the half through a penalty on 15 mins. 

The remainder of the first half saw Carrick press their advantage, first with an intercept try by Andrew Deegan on 24 mins, and then an expertly executed kick and chase by Gerard Murtagh on 37 mins. The first half ended 26-3 to Carrick.

The second half was a much tighter affair with Loughrea coming out determined to get back in the game. Twenty minutes of an arm-wrestle ensued before the first score of the second half, with a fluid Carrick attack seeing Jack Degan touch down. 

Loughrea put together a good backline move to strike on 22 mins for a try. But Carrick had the last say when Diarmuid O'Connell powered over from close range to score a try on 27 mins. On the final whistle the large crowd showed great appreciation for the efforts of both teams in a well contested and sporting battle. 

This is an impressive ending to the season for Carrick in an age grade that the club had not previously fielded in, with the team consisting of a mix of players many of whom will be eligible to play again next season.

This win sees Carrick add to its impressive trophy haul, with an unprecedented sixth trophy in what can only be described as an annus mirabilis for the club. While the season ends on a high the club is already looking forward to next season and to welcoming new and existing members to our growing sporting community.

Team: P Moran, C Creighton, G Murtagh, E Occhi, D Holmes, B Hanrahan, A Deegan, O Quinn, J Deegan, C McDonagh, L McNamee, A Devine, G Barry, J Bosomtwe, D O'Connell, O Singleton, C Gavin, E O'Reilly, L Dunne, E Costello, B O'Connor, N Stenson