4 wins in 4 days

Our men kicked off the week with a dominant 5-2 win away to Annagh United, the Championship runners up who came into the match on an 8 game winning streak.  With our place in the Premiership at stake, the boys then comfortably handled Annagh at home with a 3-1 victory, clinching the series and securing next season's place in the top-flight with an 8-3 aggregate win.  

We now start with a clean slate for the 2025/26 season. Our goals will be the same as this year.... finish top half of the league, win at least one of the Cup competitions and qualify for Europa Conference League.  

We have a strong core that was key to our record setting 2023/24 season which will return but we will be looking to strengthen the squad in the summer transfer window.  Expect an overhaul around the core as Baxter puts his mark on this team he inherited in mid-season. 

The Women's season also kicked off this week. The second team opened away to DC Diamonds on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory that really shouldn't have been that close. Our freshly promoted womens team, having played in the 6th division last year, faced a strong Diamonds team that had dropped from Division 4 and was an early favorite for winning the league. Perhaps most encouraging was the performance of the youth, with 4 of the starters only age 17. The pipeline for the first team is strong. 

The Women's first team, also newly promoted and competing in NIWFA Barclays Divison 2, faced the 22nd Street FC team that finished 4th in Division 2. The women dominated with a 10-1 victory.  This despite the fact that our newest signing from the Premiership, Jodi McCourt, didn't come on until the second half given she has only has a couple of training sessions with the team. 

Our goals for the women remain the same as they were last year... win promotion a d make deep Cup runs. Hint: we aren't done strengthening the first team and you can expect announcements in the coming days.

The future for Carrick Rangers has never been brighter.