Ballynahinch boost for Carrick ahead of season’s final game

Displaying a very positive attitude, Carrick had their opponents under pressure for much of the game with a dominant forward effort led by player-coach Paul Greenaway and captain Gareth McKeown and well backed up by No. 8 Ryan McGonigle, hooker Alan Whitley and lock Chris Rodgers.

Fellow lock John Turner was a reliable source of ball in the line out as was back-rower Lewis Patterson who also disrupted the Ballynahinch throw on occasions. The Carrick defence was solid throughout.

Carrick started the game strongly and, after a period of pressure, took the lead five minutes in when winger David Moore went over in the corner. The try was not converted but shortly afterwards Adam White converted a penalty to give the visitors an 8-0 lead. Ballynahinch did come into the game later in the half and scored a try which was converted to make the half-time score 8-7 in the visitors’ favour.

Carrick's dominance continued in the second half and they were rewarded with a great individual try by centre David Carse who followed up his own kick to gather the ball and then dummy the Ballynahinch full-back to score. Adam White added the conversion points to make the score 15 -7.

And although Ballynahinch had their own moments of pressure, there was no way through an excellent, and very determined, Carrick defence. The final whistle gave Carrick a deserved victory in what was a significant improvement on recent performances.

Carrick finish their season with a final pool game against Ballymena II at Tom Simms Memorial Park this Saturday (March 25) and although they cannot now catch pool leaders City of Derry, they will want to finish what has been a difficult year on a high with another good performance against the Eaton Park side.