Carrickfergus RFC Notes: U15 I XV Cruise to Cup Quarter Final On A Glorious Morning @ Tom Simms Memorial Park

CRFC U15s -74 Armagh U15s -0.
On a glorious morning for running rugby at Tom Simms Memorial Park Carrick U15s put on a show of great running rugby to comprehensively beat Armagh U15s.
With several positional & personnel changes due to illness injury & availability it fell to John Stewart to captain the side & he responded tremendously weighing in with a quartet of tries. CLICK HERE FOR THE ALBUM OF PICTURES
Early pressure resulted in Carrick being awarded penalty 10 metres out & a quick tap allowed Stewart to stroll in unopposed Sam Wallace converted. The same player burst away from a ruck minutes later to notch up his brace.
A delightful passage of running & handling followed with Matthew Fisher recognizing a 3 on 2 situation ,his well timed pass allowed Dylan McDowell to scorch in from 30 metres Wallace again converting.
Some good buildup work by Daniel McBurney Corey Kelly & John Turner put Rory Magill in position to blast over from a ruck of players.
The Carrick back row of Jordan Devenney Jake Gardener & debutant Owen Hunter created quick ball for scrum half Connor Cambridge to jink over for a try before a touchline sprint by Stewart saw him cut inside to score at the posts.
Wallace converted to bring the halftime score to 36 – 0
The second half began with replacements being made & before too long the team was completely changed but not before a Fisher three try blitz in the space of eight minutes.
Wallace tacked on all three conversions before he & Fisher were withdrawn.
The greatly changed Carrick XV stuck to their task & Jake Gardener was rewarded for a very tidy performance with a well crafted try.
At this stage Carrick were playing total rugby with forwards linking in the backs & backs doing the heavy duty forwards work at times. Aaron Rea Andrew Campbell & Michael Whittal combined well with their defensive work & several strong counter attacking run backs.
Dylan McDowell ran in for his second once again created by awareness & good passing before Stewart got his final try with Jamie McCracken converting.
All told this was a convincing display from Carrick, achieved without several regulars & the entire bench being used from half time.
A quarter final tie is now the reward for topping the pool with a record 216 points for & 7 against.