Ards 2nds welcomed Carrick 1sts to Hamilton Park on Saturday in the 1st round of the Miller McCall Wylie Junior Cup.

Ards kicked off and looked comfortable playing some high intensity rugby in the Carrick half. An early penalty to Ards allowed the fly half Stewart Paul (returning from injury) to take play to the visitors 5 metre line.

A clean take from the resulting lineout saw the Ards pack set up a good drive to Carrick the try line, prop Andy Foster was halted short and Carrick were forced to concede a penalty.

Ards continued to attack the Carrick line and were awarded a series of penalties but Carrick were eventually able to clear the danger following a poor Ards scrum.

With 15 minutes gone Ards got their reward when flanker and captain Chris Beacon picked up from the base of ruck inside the Carrick 22 and dashed through to open the scoring with a well taken try, full back Paul Cox added the conversion to gave Ards a well deserved 7-0 lead which remained the score until half time.

Ards would regret the lost opportunities to convert their possession into points and the visitors high penalty count
Half time: Ards 7 v Carrick 0

Ards made the perfect start early in the second half when centre Taylor Ferguson broke the defence line in mid field and popped the ball to winger Kyle Adams, who, despite the close attention of two defenders showed good pace to race over for Ards second try, the conversion was missed by Cox. Ards 12 v Carrick 0

Carrick's response was swift and decisive and from the restart where rewarded a penalty in front of the Ards posts, which was duly converted. Ards 12 v Carrick 3

A Carrick player was lucky to escape with a yellow card for a tip tackle, Cox's penalty attempt went just wide of the posts.

Ards the. suffered a costly injury to their scrum half Josh McKee who had to leave the field after putting in a courageous tackle.

Carrick now raised their game putting Ards under pressure and driving home their advantage in the scrum to gain a kickable penalty which their scrum half again converted. Ards 12 v Carrick 6

Carrick were again reduced to 14 players on the last 10 minutes when one of their players was yellow carded for a high tackle on Beacom.

Carrick rallied and upped the tempo and scored an unconverted try in the last play of normal time. Ards 12 v Carrick 11
A poor restart gave possession to Carrick, Ards repelled this last ditch Carrick pressure, only for Carrick to be awarded a penalty in front of the posts after an Ards player failed to roll away from a tackle, the Carrick out half converted this penalty and sent Carrick into the next round of the Junior Cup in injury time.

Final score: Ards 12 v Carrick 14