Champions Omagh edge past Carrick in last match of campaign

Carrick 1st XV were beaten 15-9 away to Section 2 winners Omagh in their last League match of the season on Saturday.
N Brown gets his shirt stretched by Carrick's Aaron McKinneyN Brown gets his shirt stretched by Carrick's Aaron McKinney
N Brown gets his shirt stretched by Carrick's Aaron McKinney

Although the destination of the title was already decided, and Carrick confirmed in second place, the match was fiercely contested and tempers boiled over a few times before the end.

The weather conditions were awful, however, with a bitingly cold breeze and frequent hail showers, so despite the intensity of the contest the rugby never reached a high standard.

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Carrick were dominant in the scrum but their line-out malfunctioned for most of the first half.

Partly as a result of this, and some poor decision-making, they were not able to take advantage of the wind at their backs, territorial dominance, a high Omagh penalty count and two over-lapping Omagh yellow cards. The home side got just one try-scoring chance and took it and so led by 7-6 at half-time. Carrick’s points came from two Luke Whittall penalties.

The second half was dominated by the deteriorating weather conditions. A Whittall penalty offset one for Omagh to make the score 10-9 in the home side’s favour, before Omagh grabbed a try when they caught the Carrick defence napping with five minutes of normal time remaining.

It was a disappointing end to the 2014-15 campaign for Warren McClean’s men, but they can take heart from the fact that they had their best season in more than a decade, finishing second in the League and recording some excellent wins - including those away to Coleraine, Enniskillen and Academy.