Unbeaten run ends for Lisburn

Determined to establish early superiority, Lisburn forced the Carrick scrum round 90 degrees for the turnover and from this scrum the ball was fed to Adam Melville on the wing to make good ground up to the 22 before passing to Richard Kindred who was stopped just short of the try line. Carrick managed to clear but at the ensuing ruck, Lisburn were awarded a penalty which they decided to kick for touch only to be penalised at the lineout. This enabled Carrick to bring play up to the Lisburn 22. Lisburn cleared to half way but Carrick attacked again and after a Lisburn clearance kick was charged down Carrick won a penalty which their full back converted to put them 3-0 ahead against the run of play. Up to this point the Lisburn pack had forced several turnovers by forcing the scrum through 90 degrees. However, the referee now decided that Lisburn were deliberately wheeling the scrum and awarded Carrick a penalty inside the Lisburn half. They kicked to touch but Lisburn cleared once again and won a scrum just outside their 22. Unfortunately they lost this scrum against the head, Carrick attacked, set the ruck and recycled for their winger to score a try. The conversion was successful and Carrick had extended their lead to 10-0. Lisburn went on the attack again and were awarded a penalty which they kicked to touch on the Carrick 5 metre line. An overthrow at the lineout enabled Carrick to gather and bring play up to half way and when Lisburn were again penalised, Carrick found touch on the Lisburn 22. They won the ensuing lineout and from the maul which followed their scrum half broke clear to score a try. This was duly converted and Lisburn found themselves 17-0 down after 30 minutes play.

Lisburn fought back and a penalty by David Scott was just wide before Adam Melville broke clear from his own 22 and ran the length of the pitch to touch down in the corner after kicking past the full back. The conversion was missed but Lisburn were now on the scoreboard at 17-5. Minutes later, another great run by winger Melville, carried on by Owen Hilary resulted in the Carrick no. 7 receiving a yellow card for deliberately killing the ball to disrupt the Lisburn momentum. This time Scott made no mistake with the penalty and at half time Lisburn had worked their way back into the game at 17 points to 8 in favour of Carrick but with a man advantage to start the second half. Unfortunately this was short lived when Lisburn were also reduced to fourteen men with a yellow card two minutes after the restart. The resultant Carrick penalty struck the post and Lisburn were able to clear the danger. Carrick were soon back on the attack but Lisburn were determined to run the ball from deep and a strong break from Scott enabled him to feed Scott Hughes on half way. He produced a great finish to beat two defenders and score a brilliant try. The conversion was missed but Lisburn had narrowed the gap to 17-13. Once again Carrick took the game to Lisburn and a poor clearance kick put Lisburn under sustained pressure. They managed to withstand the onslaught and Kindred broke clear from inside his 22 only to be caught by the chasing Carrick defence when it seemed he would score. As one of the chasing Carrick players had played the ball in an offside position, Lisburn were awarded a penalty. They kicked to touch, won the lineout and fed the ball to David Scott who produced a rampaging run before offloading to Mark Hill to crash over for the try. The conversion was successful and Lisburn were ahead for the first time at 20-17. Carrick fought back and following a scrum near half way they fed their winger on the blind side. He managed to evade several tackles before passing to his full back to score the try. This was converted and Carrick were back in front again at 24-20. Lisburn did not give up and another good run from Hughes almost led to a try when unfortunately the final pass was forward. This was to be their final flourish and as they again attempted to break from inside their 22 a Carrick forward intercepted to score under the posts. This was converted to leave the final score at 31-20 in favour of Carrick. This was a game Lisburn could and should have won and it will now be up to the coaches to pick up the pieces and prepare for next Saturday’s game at home against high-flying Ballyclare.