Grosvenor entertained Omagh at Belmont in bright sunshine in front of large crowd of spectators, including many travelling supporters who were hoping to see their side close the gap on UUC at the top of Qualifying 2 .
Grosvenor were playing with the wind advantage and in the opening ten minutes had Omagh pinned back in their 22. Grosvenor’s out-half Matty Little missed a penalty but the pressure eventually paid off when Jim Neill scored a try a try in the right hand corner following a neat off-load by Andrew Kelly. 5-3.
Omagh responded quickly with a penalty to reduce the deficit. 5-3. From the restart Grosvenor again piled on the pressure and Omagh were pinned back in their 22. However Little was having a rare off day with the boot and missed two penalty attempts before converting a third to extend Grosvenor’s lead. 8-3. Omagh were finding it difficult to get their hands on the ball and with limited possession they struggled to get into the game. Grosvenor on the other hand had bountiful possession but could not convert it into points, squandering a few try scoring opportunities. Jim Neill made a few scintillating counter attacking runs for Grosvenor which drew gasps from the crowd. In the dying minutes of the half Robin Coates charged down a clearance kick and gathered to scamper over for a great opportunist try. Conversion missed 13-3.
Grosvenor started the second period with a bang and surged forward out of their half with Phillip Stoops, Andrew Kelly, Peter Dawson and Fra Graham all making yards and off-loading to keep the move alive. The ball was whipped left and Jim Neill sprinted up the line before being bundled into touch just metres short. Jim was injured in the collision and had to retire hurt, reducing Grosvenor to 14 men for the remainder of the half. Even with a man short Grosvenor piled on the pressure and after a series of pick-and-go charges the ball was moved left for what looked like a certain try. But DJ Jackson received ball and tackler together and was bundled into touch. Omagh then conceded a penalty for off-side. 16-3. Grosvenor kept up the momentum and Simon Fullerton then surged up the left flank but with a clear run to the line was called back for foot in touch.
Omagh began to get into the game on the hour mark and they targeted the gap left by Jim Neill’s departure, launching a series off long and high kicks. This gave them territory and from a good attacking platform they scored a great try under the posts following some neat handling in the backs. Conversion added. 16-10. Grosvenor responded with the try of the match when Stoops again initiated a great surge forward on half-way. The ball went through several pairs of hands before Captain Alain Douglas burst through at centre and sprinted in for a great score under the posts. Conversion added. 23-10. With ten minutes to go Omagh mounted another attack and again some great handling in their backs stretched Grosvenor’s depleted defence and they scored a great try in the left-hand corner. A superb touch-line conversion made it 23-17 and everything to play for. However Grosvenor stayed calm and closed the game down, retaining possession and running down the clock. Final score 23-17.
Another great win for Grosvenor who have recovered from a poor start to their season and have now won their last seven league matches. The foundation for this victory was a quite outstanding defensive display which saw the big Omagh strike runners rocked back on their heels at every opportunity and prevented them from getting a meaningful foothold in the game. Man-of-the-match was again extremely close with Phil Hill, Andrew Kelly, Peter Dawson and Fra Graham all in the frame but Phillip Stoops gets the nod for a quite superb performance both in attack and defence.
