Carrick v Dunmore U16 Connacht League
Carrick RFC 5
Dunmore RFC 27
This was Carrick’s first home league game of the season and hopes were high after a very solid two wins from two matches in the build up to this match against league leaders Dunmore. It was a much-anticipated replay of last season’s Division 2 League Final in which Dunmore prevailed in a very closely fought affair. . Despite home advantage and a good start to this season it was very clear that a one-month layoff without a match blunted Carrick’s cutting edge.
On a superb day for rugby, It was clear that a strong-running and hard-tackling Dunmore were better prepared and sharper at almost every turn. They cashed in on their early territorial dominance with two well taken tries to lead 12-0 mid way through the first half. Carrick in fairness never stopped trying and were rewarded with an opportunist try from their very alert flanker to leave the score 12-5.
However, the second half was largely one way traffic and the home team really struggled to put any coherent phases of play together as Dunmore ran the game through good game management. Their fluent passing to both wings and consistently strong tackling prevented Carrick getting any momentum and inroads into the Dunmore half were very rare indeed. Two more well taken tries left the final score at 27-5 to Dunmore.
Despite this disappointing showing, Carrick remain in second place behind Dunmore. A win against Ballinrobe next Sunday in another home fixture will propel them into the playoffs. Games are what matter and Carrick, after an idle month, have a great opportunity over the next 6 weeks to build momentum and progress to the Connacht semi finals.
Subs: Seamus McGuire Hillary, John Boyd, Unax Nieto Santiago, Shane Satchwell, Fiachra Guckian, Luke Sharkey, Donal Higgins, Cillian McGowan and Eli Mulligan.