Carrick earn bonus point in convincing win over Limavady

Despite lots of endeavour in the first half, Limavady never looked like breaching a strong Carrick defence and conceded three first half tries, the third immediately on the heels of a red card for an offence in front of the referee. The second half was one-sided, with the Carrick pack completely on top and their backs able to run lines at will.

For Carrick there were good performances throughout the team with the scrum once again totally on top and the back row ruling almost unchallenged at the break-down. The choice for man of the match would have been close between winger Kenny Topping,who bagged three tries, and open side Ross Marsden who was everywhere; tackling, carrying, filling in ably for Cormac McCracken as one of the ‘go to’ men in the line-out and, as usual, making a thorough nuisance of himself over the ball.

The pack as a whole - from Gareth McKeown through to Ryan McGonigle - was excellent, with Alan Whitley, Chris Rodgers and Johnny Mooney prominent and McGonigle as ever carrying strongly and getting over the gain line time and again. The backs all contributed to the dominant performance and in addition to Kenny Topping's finishing there were strong performances from David Carse, Adam White and Fionn McCormack who continually threatened the the Limavady defensive line while half-backs Dan Curley and Simon White were in complete control of the game throughout.

The visitors started the game strongly, dominating possession in the early stages, but never really threatened the Carrick line and it was the home side who took the lead after 10 minutes when David Carse went over in the corner after quick ball from a line-out enabled Simon White to make a half-break and off-load to Carse who went over in the corner. Fionn McCormack then put over the conversion from a difficult angle.

With Carrick gradually getting on top it was only a matter of time before they increased their lead. Approaching the half-hour mark, Adam White ran an excellent line to score following quick release of the ball after a line-out move involving Ross Marsden and Alan Whitley. On this occasion the try was not converted.

Red Card

Then, with half-time approaching, Limavady went down to 14 men with a red card for foul play and Carrick scored their third try in the immediate aftermath. They found touch close to the Limavady line from the penalty awarded and, when their catch and drive was stopped, Fionn McCormack went close and when he was tackled quick ruck ball was transferred to Kenny Topping who went over in the corner. The try was not converted and Carrick went into the break leading 17 – 0.

With 15 men Limavady had begun to struggle in the first half but now a man down they had no answer to Carrick's forward power and free running backs. Three minutes into the second half Fionn McCormack ran back a Limavady kick from inside his own half, made ground into the visitors' 22 and passed to Kenny Topping who raced in for his second try. This was not converted but Carrick almost scored again following the re-start when they came close to touching down a chip into the Limavady in-goal area.

In the 55th minute Kenny Topping got his hat-trick try in a move started by a strong carry from Ryan McGonigle which was followed by an arcing run by Simon White and then an excellent finish by Topping who raced in from the 22 to score in the corner. Again the try was not converted but Carrick now led by 27 – 0 and, such was Carrick's control, it was only a matter of time before further scores materialised.

Strong Surge

Their sixth try came in the 60th minute when a strong run by Ross Marsden resulted in a penalty which Carrick opted to put into touch and Johnny Mooney got the touch-down following the line-out catch and drive. This try was converted by Fionn McCormack and was followed five minutes later by an excellent team try with carries by backs and forwards, following another strong surge by Ryan McGonigle, and Chris Rodgers capped an excellent game by getting the touch-down. Fionn McCormack again converted to make the score 41 – 0.

This was an excellent all round performance from Carrick, albeit against the weakest side in Section 1, but they still had to put the work in to get a bonus point victory.

The Carrick team against Limavady was: F. McCormack; M. Black (D. Moore), D. Carse, A. White, K. Topping; D. Curley, S. White; G. McKeown (Capt), A . Whitley, P. Greenaway (N. Greenwood), C. Rodgers, J. Mooney, J.Millar, R. Marsden, R. McGonigle.