Carrick U16s march into Connacht Final but Senior men lose out to Ballinasloe
Carrick U16s reached the U16 Connacht league final after an incredibly physical encounter against Gort RFC at the County Galway grounds on Sunday afternoon.
With the wind increasing in velocity, Carrick elected to play with the wind and began to play to their strengths by moving the ball at pace and on eight minutes, Reece Hill was held up just short as he attempted to break the Gort rearguard.
After sustained pressure and good interplay between Andrew Deegan and Oisin Molloy, Carrick secured a penalty on 24 minutes under the posts which Peter Moran slotted over to leave the half time score 3-0.
In the second half, Carrick moved the ball against the wind with Tristan Hoey leading the line, both in defence and attack, ably supported by his midfield partner Maxime Gerber.
On 41 minutes, after a big turnover by Alistair Hewson, Carrick counter attacked into the Gort 22 and quick hands from Ben O’Connor saw the ball move wide and Peter Moran scored in the corner to leave the score 8-0 to the visitors.
Gort, who held a physical advantage at scrum time, put huge pressure on the Carrick try line to get themselves back into the game but the Carrick defence held out bravely to secure a great away victory for Carrick.
Carrick now take their place in the final against the newly merged Connemara and Oughterard Clubs.
Team: Peter Moran, Cathal Enright, Maxime Gerner, Tristan Hoey, Reece Hill, Ben O'Connor, Luke Creighton, Andrew Deegan, Alan O'Beirne, Eoin O'Reilly , Tom Moolick, Oisin Molloy, Alex Newcombe, Bobby Hanrahan, Niall Stenson. Subs: Jayden Bosomtwe, Marcos Fallon Alonzo, Harry Alford, Jake Sharkey O'Donnell, Peter McNiff, Alastair Hewson, Eoghan Rynn and Rian Costello.
SENIORS
Carrick Seniors travelled to Ballinasloe last Sunday for their Connacht J1 League game. This was always going to be a challenging away day and with eight players out injured, made it even more difficult. Ballinasloe won by 29 points to nil but the scoreline did not reflect the spirited team performance put up by Carrick.
Three of the Ballinasloe tries were from intercepts while the other two were scored by ruck turnover ball. At times Carrick dominated possession, playing some great open rugby but were denied multiple times by great Ballinasloe defending.
It was a good team performance by the Carrick men, showing great heart and will take great learning from this game.