Defeat for Carrick makes relegation to Championship 2 'virtually certain'

A spokesperson for the east Antrim side said: “This result makes it virtually certain that Carrick will be relegated to Section 2 of the Championship for next season.

"After a fairly even first half, in which Carrick had their chances to take the lead, it was the home side who went in front with a converted try on the stroke of halftime and they followed this up with another try just after the restart.

"From then on Carrick were chasing the game and, despite an intercept try from Harry Norton, they conceded two more tries to lose by 26 points to 7.

“For Carrick there were good performances from wing forward Scott Shaw, replacement prop Dylan Wright and backs David Carse and Jake Hutchinson.

"Indeed, the back division as a whole tried hard, but Carrick were unable to take advantage of line breaks and turn opportunities into points.

“Carrick now have two weeks off before facing Dromore at Tom Simms Memorial Park on February 3 and then a week later they have their Junior Cup quarter-final match.”

Meanwhile, the Maxol-sponsored side celebrated an 18 points to 17 win against City of Armagh II in their final Junior Cup pool game at Tom Simms Memorial Park on January 6.

This win means that Carrick qualify for the knock-out stage of the competition, with an away trip to face Dromore scheduled for February 10.