It was honours even at Castle Policies this afternoon as the Villagers demonstrated too much of the Christmas spirit by twice surrendering their lead and letting Carrick back into the match. By the end, the 21-21 score line was probably a fair reflection for the work and effort both sides put into the match.

Making their first appearance since the first week of November, the Villagers could be excused for being slightly ring rusty, but they showed no signs of it, racing into a 7 point lead in as many minutes. Ruairidh Anderson claiming the try and conversion for the opening points.

The home side doubled their advantage on 20 minutes when again it was Anderson who scorched across the whitewash before slotting home the conversion. Despite the best efforts of both sides, the score remained at 14-0 through to the break.

As if to make amends for the lack of scoring in the previous 20 minutes, the opening 10 minutes of the second half saw 3 converted tries and plenty of action. The visitors were first to strike with a converted try closing the gap to 14-7. The Villagers hit back almost immediately, this time Josh McPhail claimed the try, with Anderson again on target with the conversion, restoring the home side's 2 score advantage.

Not to be outdone, Carrick hit back on 50 minutes, once more a converted try saw them narrow the deficit to just 7 points with 30 minutes still to play.

With the gloom setting in, and visibility fading, it looked like the home support were going to be the ones with the festive cheer, but Carrick had other ideas, and with 6 minutes remaining they notched up their 3rd converted try of the afternoon, levelling the scores at 21-21.

Both sides emptied their respective tanks in the closing minutes but it made no difference and the match ended with nothing to separate the sides.

The league season now goes into hibernation over the festive period, with the next fixtures scheduled for 13 January when the visitors make the trip to Fintry to face Strathendrick - weather permitting ! This is followed by a home league match against Paisley on 20 January before the National Shield competition gets underway on the 27th.

Until then, all at URFC wish you a very merry Christmas and a winning 2024.