Rugby: Carrick Seniors set to open League campaign on Sunday

Carrick Mens 1st XV open their Connacht league campaign this coming Sunday October 25, at home against Dunmore at 2.30pm, all support welcome.

Connacht U14 Boys Division 1 Carrick 15 Corinthians 19

Carrick's opening league fixture finished in a cruel fashion as the reigning champions Galway Corinthians scored an injury time try to eventually settle a rip roaring contest last Sunday at Castlecarra.

After the home side's initial strong start Corinthians started to exert huge pressure on the Carrick defence. After registering an unconverted try the visitors went for the kill but were thwarted several times by last ditch tackles, rips and hold ups. Full Back Conor McGirl was huge in this regard in leading the line and marshaling the troops. Winger Tommy Convey also making several tigerish tackles.

The storm eventually abated with Carrick eventually lifting the siege with attacks of their own. Some promising attacks faltered but just before half time rampaging centre Sonny McGovern eventually broke free of his shackles, bucked a few would-be tacklers and galloped over the line. Cillian McBrien added the extras to leave Carrick 7-5 up at the break.

Carrick started the second half strongly and after a blistering run by Joe Canning Carrick had position in the Corinthians 22. A blindside break fell to Aaron Fee on the left wing who fed inside to No. 8 Henry Gunn, the Elphin Express duly steamed over in the corner. McBrien unluckily hit the bar from the touchline from the conversion attempt.

The champions duly rallied to reassert their position. Carrick fought hard to repel the threat and two yellow cards added to the burden. Corinthians eventually crashed over with two minutes remaining and converted the try at the second attempt to leave the scores 12-12.

That should have been the end of it, but no. After regaining possession from the kick off Carrick won a penalty in the Corinthians 22. Showing maturity Carrick put down the ball and Cillian McBrien nervelessly slotted the penalty over to put Carrick ahead 15-12. With 20 seconds left that surely should have been the end of it then, but no. Agonisingly Corinthians regained possession from the kick off and did what champions do, worked through the phases to eventually break the Carrick line and Carrick hearts to prevail 19-15.

Despite the huge disappointment there is huge pride in the performance. Thank you to Corinthians for a great game and a great contest. The players now know on the back of this performance they are well worthy of their place in Division 1, and so do the rest of the Division. Our next home game v Monivea next Sunday the 25th cannot come soon enough.

Carrick RFC U13s secure home win over Ballina

Carrick RFC U13s enjoyed a fantastic home victory today, overcoming Ballina 40 - 14 under glorious sunshine and in front of a great crowd of supporters. Captained by Kaiden Kuhl, Carrick made a strong start, with Tommy Commons crossing for two early tries before completing his hat-trick. All three were magnificently converted by Noah Earley, who also added a try of his own. Further tries came from Thomas Sharkey and Daimhin Carney.

Ballina provided strong, balanced opposition throughout, ensuring a competitive and hard-fought encounter. Carrick battled hard from start to finish, with a few errors creeping in during the second half as tiredness began to show, but the team showed great determination to secure an impressive 45–14 win.

A huge thank you to Francis Roche for his excellent refereeing, to everyone who came along to support the team, and to all involved in keeping the pitch and grounds looking superb. Thank you to Ballina for an excellent contest.

Connacht U16 Girls Division 2

Carrick U16 Girls were on the road to Castlebar last Saturday. Unfortunately Carrick did not get off to a great start as they let in three soft tries in the first five minutes. The girls settled down and worked their way back into the game scoring a try to reduce the deficit. Carrick continued the match putting great pressure on Castlebar, amazing tackling, brilliant rucking, great support play but despite their best efforts the Castlebar girls with the greater experience pulled away to win the match.

Connacht U8s and 9s festival

Carrick Under 9s travelled to Loughrea today to take part in the Connacht U8 & U9 Festival. They should be incredibly proud of themselves - all of their coaches certainly are! Every one of them played their hearts out, tackled like lions and, most importantly, worked brilliantly as a team. A big thank you to Loughrea Rugby Club for hosting a brilliant event and to everyone involved in organising the day.