Carrick OS RFC’s under 14’s welcomed Galwegians at home on Saturday to play their Semi Final in Connacht’s Under 14 Boys Division 1.
With Storm Darragh leaving gale force conditions in its wake, the two under 14 teams braved the elements in what was to be a nail biter of a game.
Carrick played with the wind in the first half and was first to score a try. The first half was an evenly contested half with both sides defending well and for every try by Carrick, Galwegians replied with one of their own. Carrick scored 3 points from a penalty kick to take a lead of 13-12 at half time, but one felt that they did not make enough use of the advantage of playing with a strong wind.
The second half started with much of the same from the two teams, with Carrick scoring the first try which was converted to make the score 20-12. However, Galwegians found another gear in a purple patch which saw two tries being scored by Galwegians with Carrick allowing one of the tries being scored under the posts to give Galwegians a lead with 20-24 with 13 minutes to go. At this point, Galwegians seemed to have gained an upper hand with the momentum swinging heavily in their favour. But the Carrick Boys found that grit and determination they have shown to possess in similar situations in both Quarter and Semi – finals of the Connacht Cup the previous season and took control of the game with both strong ball carrying and enormous pressure on Galwegians when they attempted to play out of their 22. A clinical performance by Carrick in the last 12 minutes of the match, saw Carrick score two tries, one of which was converted and another 3 points from a penalty kick in the last seconds of the game to make the final score 35-24 to Carrick to secure their place in Connacht’s Under 14 Boys Division 1 Final.
Carrick OS RFC will be playing the winner of the other Semi Final between Creggs RFC and Sligo RFC on a date and venue to be confirmed.

























