The game started slowly for the Glynn men. The first 20 minutes of the game was dominated by Carrick through Larne's mistakes.

Larne conceded their first try after Carrick's 12 cut through the line, on a set play move from the base of the scrum.

Carrick then ran away with an intercept for their second converted try, before closely followed by their third try of the half.

This then spurred the Larne team on, in previous seasons this would of seen a host of points conceded with head's dropping but this was not the case for Alasdair Mckee's men.

The Larne pack started to get a hold of the ball, with Eddie Hunter & Jordan McIlhinney making the hard yards. Larne began to put pressure on the Carrick defence. The final plays of the half had Carrick camped in their 22 with Rhys Thomas & Luke Burford making big carries towards the line but Larne were unable to convert.

The second half saw Larne's pressuring continuing. With a dominant scrum Larne had the attacking platform required to put a footnote in to the game. A break from Anton White saw Carrick camped on their try like again, this time Ryan McAlister was able to borrow over for the try.

At 19-5 the match turned a slug fest with big hits coming in from both sides. Larne's led by Dan Campbell who was cutting Carrick players down across the park.

With Larne making multiple changes, a breakdown in communication allowed Carrick's 9 to snipe down the blindside putting their wing in to score which was converted.

With the score 24-5 Larne pressed on and mounted further attacks on the Carrick line. Ryan Garret took to the field, and with a moment of Sonny Bill magic was able to draw two Carrick defenders in before offloading to Robbie Doey to score in the corner. The try was then converted by Callum McKay from the touch line.

From that point on Larne dominated possession. Further pressure from the front row of Jack Hill, Craig Gibson & Luke Burford forced Carrick to try and clear their lines.But with the sight of the Larne flanker's charging, Carrick's kicker dropped the ball with Steven Dickey pouncing for Larne's third try.

The game finished 24-17 to Carrick, questions to be asked of 'what if' if Larne had switched on from the kick off. On a positive note the fight back & grit of the squad to pick themselves up was a great sight for all to see.

Larne's players of the match were Eddie Hunter & Dan Campbell for their carries & work ethic.

Next up will see a double hit out for their last preseason game, with Instonains 1s and 2s travelling to the Glynn on Saturday 19th September.