Hinch took to the field on Saturday knowing that only a win over league leaders Carrick would keep them in the hunt to win this very tight league. The Hinch men knew that this would be far from easy and were expecting a physical encounter.

Both sides started well but as the game settle Hinch were taking control in the scrums with the Carrick front row unable to cope with Dodds, Prentice and McIlwaine. This resulted in Hinch taking scrums against the head and setting up a good attacking platform for the back to use. Carrick gave away to penalties in quick succession inside their 22 from pressure piled on from Hinch. Adrian Dodd converted both these.

Hinch then applied more pressure and won another scrum against the head. Andy Reid moved the ball swiftly to George Shaw who placed a superb kick deep into the Carrick 22. The Carrick fullback was put under pressure from Gareth Chambers who stripped him of the ball and popped to Mark Magowan in support to score near the corner. The long-range conversion was narrowly missed.

 Half time score 11-0.

Hinch knew they had Carrick rattled and we expecting an onslaught on their line. Carrick pressed hard for around 10 mins and got a score under the posts, which was converted. This seemed to spur them on and they kept the pressure on. From a scrum in the middle of the field they moved the ball wide and broke

through the Hinch defence. The Carrick player was over the line and as he was about to touch down he was caught by Janusz McNeill who had chased back and managed to turn the player and rip the ball from him and held himself up until support arrived and Hinch through the trusty boot of Shaw cleared deep into the Carrick half.

Carrick then kept pressing looking for a winning score and put in long kicks, which were well fielded by fullback Carl Larkin. Hinch good ground into the Carrick 22 and following hands in a ruck Hinch got another penalty, which Dodd converted.

In the dying minutes Carrick had a line out 10 metres from the Hinch line. The ball from the line out found it's way to Hinch winger Magowan who kicked it deep into the Carrick 22 the fullback again was put under pressure from Lee and Raymie Jordan who bundled him into touch. As the ref sounded the final whistle Hinch knew they had been in a contest and this was a step towards the league title.

There has not been enough space to mention all the players but from 1-15 plus the subs that came on it was a superb team performance.  Next week they play in the semi-final of the Butler Shield away to Grosvenor 3's. if anyone would like to travel and give vocal support to the guys it would be most welcome.