‘We’ve more to improve on’ says Gibson as Skins go top

Enniskillen sit top of the Kukri Championship One table following Saturday’s 18-6 victory over Carrickfergus at Mullaghmeen.
John Maguire produced a superb display of kicking for Skins, registering all of their points as they overcame a stubborn side to claim a fifth league win of the season.
“It probably wasn’t the prettiest game you will ever see but Carrick are a very hard side to play against. We were patient though and John Maguire kicked some brilliant penalties to steer us to the win,” said Skins coach Willie Gibson.
“It’s nice to be top and things are going well so far but we know that it is a very long season and the boys realise that there is a lot to improve on,” he added.
Following a minutes silence in recognition of the late Shannon, Munster and Ireland International Anthony “Axel” Foley, who sadly passed away last weekend, the game got under way. It was the visitors who were first to score as Enniskillen were adjudged to have crept offside and the resultant penalty was slotted between the posts to put Carrick into an early 3-0 lead.
The first scrum of the game was to set the general theme of the day. In an atypical Skins scrummaging display of late, Carrick were driven back ferociously on their own ball and Davy Taylor picked from the back to attack the Carrick line with an onslaught coming from the back line. A strong visiting defence repelled this and eventually Michael Law got stripped in midfield to give Carrick some much needed relief. 
Skins got back on level terms as Maguire banged over his first penalty of the day. Play seemed to focus around the halfway line and towards the Skins 10’ for a period; a lovely steal by the forwards saw Maguire release O’Shea who in turn released James Ferguson, he danced his way just into the Carrick half only to be taken down by a high tackle from the Carrick 12, resulting in a penalty which Maguire slotted over levelling the score 3-3.
Shortly after the restart some enterprising play from Skins ended with a scrum just inside the Carrick half and the dominance of the drive had Carrick giving away another penalty just inside their 10, Maguire duly obliged yet again leaving the score 6-3.
The Carrick 10 restarted the game and kicked the ball dead resulting in a most inconvenient scrum back on the halfway line. Skins relished this opportunity to again show their power and, following an initial drive, received another penalty just inside the half. Maguire stepped up and didn’t flinch at this chance to keep the scoreboard ticking and slotted the ball between the posts, increasing the score line to 9-3. Good interplay between both teams followed as the game moved towards the end of the first half and with a further Carrick infringement 3 metres inside their half, up stood Maguire again signalling for the touchline to get him his tee, with a kick that looked near impossible giving the conditions, but in his stride Maguire hit it low and hard and it sailed between the sticks increasing the score to 12-3. From the restart Skins fired deep back down into the Carrick half, and strong driving from the base of the ruck by Davy Taylor saw Skins advance towards the line, supported ably by Jamie Johnston. The home side were halted by yet another Carrick indiscretion giving Maguire another opportunity, accepting with open arms to push on 15-3. Carrick to their credit harboured no thoughts of lying down and came back up the pitch with vigour and, following a penalty for Skins holding on whilst tackled, the Carrick 10 struck the ball to bring them back to 15-6 as halftime was called.
The second half started in much the same way as it had played out in the first 40 minutes and it proved to be more of an arm wrestle than a spectacle; the scoreboard too was much less perturbed in the second half. Neither team yielded an inch in defence and continued to attack tenaciously. The dominant Skins scrum and line out was the major difference, not to mention the good work of Holden and Carleton to disrupt the Carrick line out in turn, significantly impacting their ability to retain possession. Points scoring chances were few in the second half and the Carrick out half missed another opportunity to pull Skins back in, and shortly afterwards for once, and ironically in his easiest kick of the day, Maguire’s opportunity to extend the lead, following clumsy rucking from the visitors, drifted wide. The defensive display from both sides shut down any ambitious attacking play, and forced errors or penalties tended to creep in whenever the ball went wide. O’Shea made ground on a few runs but Carrick defenders tended to overrun the back line. In the last 10 minutes, another Carrick breakdown infringement gave Maguire an opportunity to which he atoned for his previous miss and sent Skins forward with another penalty 18-6, confirming the result into the dying minutes for a decisive winning margin but an arduous battle nonetheless.