1st XV report: Carrick GS 38 Cambridge House 10 Carrick - TopicsExpress

1st XV report: Carrick GS 38 Cambridge House 10 Carrick started the game with second row Bradley Luney and centre Daniel Anaele making their 1st XV debuts. Following a reshuffle to the midfield due to Christian Robinsons late withdrawal, Carrick began brightly and dominated the early exchanges. With the pack gaining the upper hand at the breakdown, Carrick opened the scoring through centre and captain Jake Porter who crashed through the visitors defence for a try converted by David Carse. With Anaele and Porter dominating the midfield exchanges, out half David Carse cleverly varied the play and used his centres as decoys to release full back Fionn McCormack for a fantastic try. Carse missed the conversion. With the set pieces working well, Carricks backs had the platform to play some expansive rugby and after another well worked set play number eight Tom Gilpin barged over from close range. The conversion was successful bring the score to 19-0. The home team, full of confidence following a great start to the game extended their lead when back row forward Reece Berry broke clear from the 22 for another converted score. Intelligent kicking from scrum half Michael Black put the visitors under pressure and prevented them getting any meaningful possession. Half time 26-0. A late first half injury to back rower forward Berry saw Mark Snoddy make his 1st XV debut and he immediately stamped his authority on the game with a trademark tackle in midfield. The visitors to their credit came back into the game, scoring wide out after a series of pick and goes close to the ruck. This sparked the home team into life and after another good phase of interplay between backs and forwards, centre Anaele burst through some tired tackles to score beside the posts. Carse again converted to extend the lead to 33-8. Carrick continued to play some exciting rugby but despite making several good line breaks, the final pass didnt go to hand. Cambridge House again staged an attack and got their second try following some good carries from their forwards. With time running out, scrum half Michael Black darted over from close range following good carries from Adam Urquhart, David Stewart and Scott Henderson. The conversion was missed. Final score 38-10 Overall, this was a solid team performance but the most pleasing aspect was the performance of debutants Luney, Anaele and Snoddy who have given the coaches difficult decisions to make for next weeks games against Grosvenor GS.