Dromore beat rivals Carrick in Towns Cup

Dromore RFC 37

Carrick 10

THE postponed first round of the Towns Cup got underway at Barban Hill on Saturday after a lengthy spell of inactivity due to the recent cold snap.

Dromore, who were missing three first line props, gave a debut to Adam McDonald in the front row. The game got underway with a fog decending over Barban Hill.

The locals started off defending a determined Carrick offensive but good tackling and some releiving kicks from Dromore saw the home side advance into the Carrick 22 where a penalty was won and converted by Sam Russell to edge Dromore 3-0 ahead.

A cutting line by Gareth Martin broke the Carrick defence and Sam Russell was in support to score Dromore’s first try. However he missed the conversion to leave the score 8-0.

The rest of the first period was played out with neither team gaining the upper hand, Carrick scored in the final minutes to leave the half time score 8-5 in Dromore’s favour.

Dromore started the second half in a determined mood, another thrust by the robust Gareth Martin saw him add to Dromore’s total with a well taken try, quickly followed by a James Thompson special. These two tries converted by Sam Russell gave Dromore a commanding lead.

Carrick to their credit came back strong and scored in the corner after some pressure to leave the score 22-10.

Dromore then upped the control and started to play a more open style of rugby, producing three more tries from Sam Russell, James Thompson and Matt Tamalii to leave the score on the final whistle 37-10 to Dromore.

This means Dromore advance into the second round of the Town’s Cup where they face Londonderry YM on Saturday January 30.

Head Coach Jacques Benade was glad to get some rugby played again and commented after the match, “I’m happy to get the boys back on the pitch again after the long layoff. Our training has been hampered by weather and our preparations weren’t ideal but I think the boys showed their desire to do well in this competition today.

“We now play Bangor on Tuesday night in the league which is a massive game for the club so we will be focusing on that before we hit the cup trail next Saturday.”

Related topics: