Saturday saw Ards 1st XV visit Carrick 1sts in the first round of this season's Junior Shield Competition. The highlight of last season for the club was meeting Carrick in the final of the same competition at the Affidea (then Kingspan) Stadium and as fate often does, the draw matched the two teams again.

The Selection Committee had another week of choices and tough decisions to be made, with a handful of absences and injuries. This handed opportunities for Curtis Stewart to start at lock forward, Adam Finlay at flanker and Ben Thompson to return at winger. Danny McCullough and Ben Goldthorpe moved to the bench and were joined by the evergreen Trevor Devlin.

For the third week in a row, conditions were far from ideal, with heavy rain and wind throughout most of the day. Carrick won the toss and opted to play with the wind for the first half and started with good possession and territory as a result. However, the Ards scrum and defensive effort repelled the home side and at the first opportunity, they worked their way forward via some quick phases. Into the Carrick half, carries from prop Matthew Kane, Number 8 Joel De Pledge and Stewart made further ground. Trying to work wide was difficult with the weather and a sharp Carrick defence forcing play back inside. As the quarter closed, Ards earned a penalty from 30 metres for offside and Angus Christie took the kick to open the scoring at 0-3.

After a period of centralised play due to handling errors on both sides, Ards broke up the right from deep via Thompson, but this was short lived as Carrick broke out themselves. Parked on the Ards 22, it took a massive defensive set to keep the home side out, with Luke Megarity & Curtis Ewing featuring. Eventually, play ended in a scrum to Carrick on the 22 metre line. Tom-Arthur Donnan won the ball against the head as the Carrick pack were sent backwards. Moving the ball wide, a penalty was earned and Robbie Johnston tapped and kicked, with the Carrick full back just winning the footrace. Working the ball back, a scrum was won and from it a penalty in front of the posts on the Carrick 22, which Angus Christie goaled to move the lead to 0-6.

The home side continued to use the wind for territory, but stiff Ards defence was disrupting their progress and pushing the ball carrier back over the gain line more than once. McCullough replaced Stewart as Carrick threatened briefly out wide, before Ards took the upper hand as the half was closing. Coming close to a score through Kane & Danny Patton, an offside penalty was awarded in front of the posts and Angus Christie took the points on the stroke of half time for a lead to Ards at 0-9.

Using the wind at the start of the second half, Ards were happy to gain territory and use their first phase advantage to their benefit. With 5 minutes gone, Johnston chipped through towards the Carrick try line. The cover defence conceded a scrum on the 5 metre line and pressure from Ards gave them the momentum for De Pledge to pick the ball from the back and crash over for a try. With Angus Christie adding the conversion, Ards now had a strong lead at 0 -16.

With Devlin and Goldthorpe replacing Finlay and Ewing, Ards’ defensive tempo was maintained and was heavily called upon, as Carrick fought hard into the wind to escape their half. The rest of the third quarter saw Carrick unable to break the halfway line with no kicking option and an uncompromising Ards defensive line, despite their best efforts.

The final quarter saw the rain finally clear and both sides able to open up their play. With territory easy to find, Ards were happy to defend and take opportunities as they arose. Carrick tried several options from deep themselves, but well organised defences cancelled each other out. A period of pressure from Ards in the closing seconds led to a penalty from distance. The kick for goal was wide, but served its purpose in running the clock down, as Ards took a hard earned victory and remain, temporarily at least, in contention for this year's trophy.

Next week sees the 1st XV back on the road to Larne as they look to cement their league lead and build on a great start to the season.