Carrick under-15s lift Ulster title

Both sides had only been beaten once in their respective leagues, so a tough, physical encounter was anticipated.

Carrick’s pack dominated the early phases of play at Eaton Park with second-row Daniel McBurney, number eight Jordan Devenney and prop Jordan Robinson all making telling breaks into the opposition 22.

An early infringement from Coleriane allowed Carrick out-half Sam Gorman to kick a fine penalty to give his side a 3-0 lead.

The Reds continued to press and some very astute tactical box-kicking by scrum-half Shay McCord kept the pressure on the Bannsiders.

Carrick turned this pressure into points when Devenney broke through and scored underneath the posts. The conversion was kicked by Gorman making the score 10-0.

Coleraine, however, were in no mood to throw in the towel and only some super defensive work, in particular from full-back Owen Hunter, prevented them from opening their account.

With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, a poor kick allowed the Coleraine full-back to counter and two missed tackles resulted in an unconverted score. This seemed to spur the Carrick players on and after a passage of sustained possession, centre Tyler Arnold crashed over in the corner for his side’s second try. A very difficult conversion was confidently slotted over by Gorman, leaving the score 17-5 at the break.

Coleraine had more possession of the ball in the second session and claimed the lion’s share of territorial advantage. However, this young Carrick side pride themselves on their defensive qualities and led by captain, Gareth Hartley, they thwarted wave after wave of Coleraine attacks.

One outstanding try-saving tackle by McCord eptomised the commitment on display. Carrick had further opportunities to score but to Coleraine’s credit, they too defended superbly. The stalemate continued throughout the whole second half with neither side able to cross the opposition line.

At the final whistle the Carrick players celebrated their league success and can now look forward to the cup competitions.

Carrick U15s squad: J Robinson, M Justin, S McMurtry, D McBurney, C Dodds, J Mitchell, J Devenney, G Hartley,S McCord, S Gorman, J Gaw, C Hoban, E Sloan, J Bourma, O Hunter, T Arnold, A McGahon, C Gascoigne, J Patterson, A White, K McCleery.

Coaching staff: M Kidd, G McCord, D Wady, B McMurtry.