Robinson lands two tries to help Carrick Grammar to last-four spot

The Carrick team travelled to Lisburn where they came up against a determined Friends outfit.

The Grammar started the better of the two sides and, despite playing into a strong wind in the first half, they took a 10-0 lead thanks to tries from second row Stuart McCloughlin and outside-centre, Christian Robinson.

The Friends team responded well with two tries of their own and a successful penalty attempt to take a deserved 15-10 lead.

Carrick, however, regained their impetus and scrum-half Michael Black crossed the whitewash on the stroke of half-time to give the visitors slender 17-15 advantage at the interval.

They extended their lead shortly after the restart with a neatly-taken penalty from full-back David Carse.

But Friends once again responded well by taking full advantage of a mistake in the Carrick midfield to level the scores.

The Grammar then took control of proceedings, using the strong wind to their advantage to pin the opposition into their own half.

Continual infringements at the breakdown resulted in a sin bin for a Friends forward, and Carrick took full advantage with Robinson adding his second try of the morning.

Jake Porter then finished off a well worked move from the Carrick backline to secure a 32-20 victory.

Carrick Grammar will now play the winners of the rescheduled fixture between Larne Grammar and Royal School Dungannon for a place in the Schools’ Trophy final.

Carrick U13s continue good start to 2014

Carrick Rugby Club’s Under-13s continued their good start to 2014 with a comprehensive 49-0 victory against their Malone counterparts in the Ulster Carpets Youth Cup.

The game itself was in danager of being postponed for the second consecutive week due to attrocious weather conditions, but having agreed to play, it was Carrick who made the better start with two early scores from centre Ciaran Wilson and number eight, Jack Cooper.

The Carrick forwards adapted best to the windy, wet conditions and provided their outhalf Ryan Lyttle with a stream of quality ball. It was the out-half who indeed scored next, making a superb individual break.

Malone battled bravely but had no answwer to the power and the pace of both the Carrick forwards and backs. Before the half-time whistle, Ciaran Wilson had completed yet another hat-trick of tries, while Cooper and Ryan Wilson had also added to their tally for the season.

Playing into the driving rain and howling wind, the Carrick boys maintained possession of the ball supurbly and quickly added a further two tries to the scoreline.

With 15 minutes of the game remaining, the coaching staff from both clubs agreed to cut the game short and allow both sets of boys to get back to the changing rooms for a well-deserved hot cup of tea.

Carrick Under-13s now progress to the quarter-final stage of the Cup competition. Next week they get back to league duties with a home tie against rivals, Ballymena RFC.

Carrick scorers:

Tries: Ciaran Wilson (five), Jack Cooper (two) Ryan Lyttle (2). Conversions: Ciaran Wilson (two).