The Reserves kept up the pressure at the top of the Premier Reserve League with a hard fought victory at a blustery Oval on Saturday.

  With Kyle Cherry away to Glenavon and skipper Willie Garrett off to Lisburn Distillery, both on loan deals, it gave the staff a chance to look at some of the younger players who are on the fringes.

Both teams started at a high tempo in difficult conditions and both keepers were tested early on.  With 9 minutes on the clock a through ball caught out our centre halves and Reece Shaw was left making a bit of a rash tackle, Referee Ruthanne Wright gave the penalty and the Carrick forward beat Hogg to his left hand side.

The young Glens reacted positively and were level just four minutes later.  Some great work by Carl McComb down the left channel resulted in a great cross picking out John McGuigan who slotted home with his right foot to level the match.

Just before the half time whistle McComb went on another strong run but unfortunately he dragged his shot wide of the post. The second half saw both teams trying to play some football and get the ball down and pass, but both the speed of the game and high pressure made this difficult.
Reece Shaw , Kym Nelson, Luke Wilson and Jordan West, from Gary Smyth's Colts all got grass time and acquitted themselves well.

The winner when it came, despite both teams trying to pass the ball, was a route one affair.  Carl McComb latched on to a long clearance, broke free from his marker and calmly lifted the ball over the advancing keeper.

Credit to Carrick, they came back strongly forcing several saves from Aaron Hogg as they pressed for a share of the spoils.  One save in particular stood out, a misplaced clearance from Thompson almost caught everyone out, but Hogg moved smartly to palm away the danger.

Seconds Manager Spike Hill said after the game, " Not a great game, but credit the players for grinding out a result, they certainly learnt a different aspect of the game.  Rangers were busy and had good movement, we had to match that and deal with it." He continued, " Some of the young lads got some Seconds experience and we can look forward to working with them in the future.

Hogg, Thompson, Crawford, Shaw, Birney, Beggs (West 60) Curtis (Nelson 67) McIlveen, McGuigan (Wilson 80) Johnston, McComb. unused McConnell.

Next up for the Seconds is a trip to Lisburn Distillery on Saturday ko 2 pm

• < Prev
• Next >