Carrick RFC suffer heavy defeat to new title holders

The final score of 53-3 gave the visitors the bonus point they needed to take the Kukri Ulster Championship Section 1 title. (They finished their season on Saturday with another big win against Grosvenor with this game being blown up after 60 minutes.)

Carrick finish the season in eighth place in the league ahead of relegated Limavady and Grosvenor who face a play-off to stay up.

Clogher Valley put in an impressive first half performance against an under strength Carrick side with their organised and fast running backs creating havoc in the home side's defence from the start. They scored three tries in the opening 10 minutes and had their four try bonus point after 20 minutes.

By half-time they were out of sight, leading by 41-0. However, not for the first time this season, Carrick produced a much better second half - possibly aided by the visitors becoming too adventurous in possession and frequently turning the ball over - and responded to an early Clogher Valley try by dominating territory and possession for much of the half.

The home side's only reward was a Fionn McCormack penalty but they went close on a number of occasions to a consolation try and certainly gave the Clogher Valley defence a good work-out before conceding another try late on.

Carrick's cause was not helped by a number of injuries during the game, requiring not only substitutions but also positional switches.

With the league season over, Carrick's attention now turns to the Junior Cup pool stage with their first game against City of Derry - whom they have already beaten once his season - at Tom Simms Memorial Park on March 4.

The Carrick team against Clogher Valley was: F. McCormack (S. Rodgers); A. Boyce; D. Carse, A. White, D. Moore; D. Curley, K. Topping; A. Gibney, A. Whitley, P. Greenaway (R. Pruess), C. Taylor, C. Rodgers, J. Mooney, R. Higgins, N. Greenwood.