Carrick edged out by Instonians II in the opening round of the Junior Cup

Warren McClean’s men had more than enough chances to win the game but did not convert promising attacking positions into tries. Their defence also let them down on two occasions with both Instonians’ tries preventable. With their scrum on top, and more than parity at the break-down, Carrick really should have won this game with something to spare.

In the early stages Carrick pushed the visitors back in the scrum on a number of occasions, giving number eight Ryan McGonigle the opportunity to take on the defence with his powerful surges off the back.

After 15 minutes, blind-side flanker Neil Marsden almost got over at the end of an attack involving both forwards and backs but the ball was lost just short of the line. However, Carrick were awarded a penalty for an offence during the move and Johnny Sheriff kicked them into a 3-0 lead.

As the game moved into the second quarter, Instonians began to get some control of territory and possession. They took the lead on 28 minutes when their scrum-half threw an outrageous dummy which fooled the fringe defence at a ruck 30 metres out and then stepped at least two defenders to get in close to the posts. The try was converted to give the Belfast men a 7 - 3 lead.

Carrick came back and following two penalty kicks to touch in the Instonians 22, came close from a line-out catch-and-drive but were penalised for blocking.

With three minutes to go to half-time, winger Brian Alexander ran back a poor Instonians clearance kick and, at the ensuing break-down, the men in red were awarded a penalty which Sheriff kicked to narrow the gap to one point.

Almost immediately, the visitors hit back with their second try.

Although under severe pressure on their own put-in at a scrum on the Carrick 22, Instonians somehow managed to get the ball clear and their out-half set off on a curving run and was missed by at least two Carrick defenders before he crossed the line in the right hand corner. The conversion attempt was missed but the visitors went in at half-time with a 12 - 6 lead.

Carrick dominated both territory and possession in the early stages of the second half, with full-back Andy McIlroy finding several excellent touches deep in Instonians territory. However, the home side simply could not convert pressure into points, conceding number of penalties in good attacking positions and turning the ball over in contact too often.

With the third quarter drawing to a close, they did get some reward when Sheriff kicked his third penalty to narrow the gap to three points.

In the final quarter though, Instonians once again took a degree of territorial control, although they threatened the Carrick line on only one occasion when they lost control of the ball close to the line.

The closing minutes of the game belonged to the home side and they went close a number of times. On the first occasion, Neil Marsden peeled off a driving maul and was tackled just short and then, a few minutes later, he came close following a charge by McGonigle. When the ball was re-cycled, a knock-on brought the final whistle with the visitors holding onto their 12 - 9 lead.

As against Larne, there were some good individual performances across the Carrick team, including McGonigle, Marsden, Andy Kincaid, Chris Rodgers and backs McIlroy and Brian Alexander.

Certainly, man on man, Carrick looked to have the better players in the contest with Instonians. It is a matter of getting the linkages right and turning breaks and half-breaks into try-scoring opportunities and, as the season progresses, this area of performance should improve.

Carrick: A. McIlroy; A. Moore, J. Cullen, J. Wady (A. McKinney), B. Alexander; J. Sheriff, K. Topping; A. Gibney, N. Hanna, R.Williams, C. Rodgers, A. Kincaid (c), N. Marsden, C. Rea (J. Magill), R. McGonigle.

On Saturday (September 21) Carrick open their league campaign away to Enniskillen.

CARRICK GRAMMAR Lose

out to Coleraine INST

Carrickfergus Grammar School 1st XV endured a difficult outing in their second game of the season away to Coleraine Inst.

Coleraine controlled possession and territory from the beginning with forwards and backs combining well, and they held a deserved lead at half time.

Carrick forced their way back into the game after the interval and scored a try through Adam Urquhart which David Carse converted.

Coleraine, however, soon regained the upper hand through their dominant pack and ran out comfortable winners following injuries to two of Carrick’s best players on the day.