Carrickfergus 1st XV 7 Enniskillen 1st XV 31

Enniskillen 1st XV had a stellar 7-31 win away to Carrick last Saturday to seal two consecutive wins away from home, claiming a fourth try bonus point in the process – a rare feat in recent years away to Carrickfergus.

Skins started well, showing good passages of play, but the home side looked formidable and capitalised on errors; the big Carrick side looked physical and direct in their attack and began to penetrate the Skins line.

A soft penalty against Skins in their half allowed Carrick to set up a lineout five metres out, and they crossed the line after a number of close-quarter carries with less than five minutes gone.

The next 10 minutes were mostly played in the middle of the park as the two teams traded blows; a Yellow Card for Harry Ingram for an attempted intercept, leaving Skins a tough 10 minutes, but they dealt well with the challenge, claiming some possession and battering the opposition defence through Carleton and Neil Rutledge.

Eddie Keys and George Foster also dealt well with attempts from Carrick to kick in behind the defence, and played for territory well.

Slowly, Skins began to gain ground, winning the small battles; a turnover from Sam Balfour at the ruck put Carrick back in their half, and another infringement at the ruck allowed Skins to set up a lineout inside the 22.

Carrick battled the maul well but eventually the ball found Daire Hill, who crossed for the first score to bring Skins back to a mere 7-5.

Carrick responded well with a good period of attack and got around the Skins defence out wide to nearly claim a score but for some good corner flagging from Matty Dane.

Skins defended excellently with a big shift from Johnston Martin, Jack Rutledge and Timoney to hold out to the half-time whistle and maintain the 7-5 scoreline.

Skins built the pressure well from the restart at the beginning of the second half; Captain James Carleton claimed a penalty with a turnover at the ruck, which was duly kicked to touch; a well-worked line-out from Keenan to set up a maul ended with short-range carries from the forwards, and Carleton finishing the period of attack off by crossing the line, converted by Eddie Keys to lead 7-12.

Carrick had a fair amount of possession now in the Skins half and a big defensive effort was required.

A well-worked exit from Eddie Keys and determined kick chase relieved the pressure and a Jack Rutledge turnover gave Skins an opportunity to set up another line out deep in the Carrick half.

Converted

In a carbon copy of the first score, the maul made its way forward before breaking down into carries, where Neil Rutledge powered over for a score, converted by Keys to lead 7-19 now.

Play switched back and forth now as Carrick sought to get back in the game but Skins looked comfortable in defence and the big home side looked unlikely to make inroads, with fresh legs from debutant Pete Read and Marcus Crawford slotting in seamlessly.

A Gary Thornton intercept and 20-metre break was well supported by his teammates and Matty Dane made a break around the fringes to 15 metres out; only for the ball to go wide and be intercepted and play returned to half way.

A Carrick handling error set up a scrum on half way and the young front row – now Breen, Read and Crawford– set an excellent platform which ended with Eddie Keys crossing for a score to claim the bonus point, his kick drifting wide to lead 7-24.

Shortly afterwards, a scrum just outside the Skins 22’ ended in fantastic fashion as the ball went through the hands of Keys, Hylton and Balfour to find George Foster, who drew the defenders in on the far 22’ to offload to Ingram to finish an epic try for the last play of the game, ending 7-31.

It was an excellent performance from Skins, who showed a much more patient, pressure-building demeanour than they had in previous weeks; grinding through a tough first half with plenty of physicality; Gary Thornton now making the move to the front row, getting through a massive amount of work while also looking a formidable scrummager.

Skins then ran riot in the second half, looking the much more mobile side, but building their scores from good territory off the back of mistakes from the home side.

This Saturday they host Dromore – another side usually vying for the upper end of the table, who should be a tougher test.