Carrick 57-21 Birkmyre
Arnold Clark West Division 2
Saturday, 31st August 2024
Birkmyre suffered their second defeat of the season away to Carrick at the weekend 57-21. The Kilmacolm side find themselves at the bottom end of the table after the second round of fixtures although both matches were closer than the scorelines might suggest.
Carrick narrowly missed out on promotion last year and took the lead after 5 minutes in a game that already had been to both ends of the pitch. Carrick was charging down the right wing, but their kick was recovered by Birkmyre Full Back, Lewis Higgins. The visitors worked the ball across and up their own right-wing before kicking long into the opposition’s 22.
However, a couple of missed tackles on the run back saw Carrick advance deep into opposition territory. They moved the ball from the left of the pitch over to the right to score near the corner after other missed opportunities to make tackles.
This became a bit of a theme for the day as Carrick found themselves 19 points up after 20 minutes of play. Birkmyre however got one back. Skipper, Ross Moglia, ceased on a quick “tap & go” penalty to weave his way past retreating defenders to run in from 25m out. Carrick did, however, manage another couple of scores to go in at the half, 33-7 up.
Birkmyre played better in the second half however they did concede quickly after the restart. For the next 20 minutes, the game ebbed & flowed both ways before Carrick scored again. Moglia then scored his second try for Birkmyre quickly after. He intercepted a loose pass on the half-way line and manage to cut a line to touch down under the posts. It was a well-deserved score as the Inverclyde side had not been getting the rub of the green by way of refereeing decisions for a period of time, and temperatures had been rising on and off the pitch.
There were 3 more scores in the final 10 minutes. The first two went in favour of Carrick before Birkmyre finished off with an excellent consolation try. From a scrum 20m out, the visitors worked the ball left & right probing at the tiring defence. Having been awarded a penalty close in, the ball was given to the heavy lifters in the team to take the ball to within inches. Finally, Finlay Davidson got the ball in his hands and drove over from only a couple of feet out. David Cruickshank then slotted over his 3rd conversion of the day as time ran out.
Birkmyre take on Clydebank this Saturday in what will be a crucial match with both sides routed at the bottom of the league table.
All photos – credit: Fiona Wallace