Sat 7th Dec, 2:30pm. Carrick 3 – 19 Omagh
Accies 1XV win away to Carrick
Fourteen points form the trusty left boot of fullback David Ward and a try by winger Andy McFarland saw Omagh home by 19 points to 3 in a very tricky encounter away at the Woodlawn, Carrickfergus. Nothing less than four points was needed to maintain the Accies title challenge and keep up with leaders Ballyclare, and while this is a very tough venue to come and win, Omagh were glad to take the points down the road.
Steven Lyons and Simon Monteith came into the side at loose head and hooker respectively and had very solid games, while Stuart McCain claimed the No. 10 berth following his return from injury with Lee Murphy joining him at half back.
“I am very pleased to come to Carrick and come away wit the points. I thought we were very solid througout, defensively we were excellent and collectivel y played well toghther”, revealed Accies coach, phil marshall after the match.
“The most pleasing thing was that we executed our game plan and the guys did what we talked about doing in the team talks. We controlled the ball and field position and it was a good professional performance all round”.
Omagh began the match playing into a stiff wind with the aim of keeping the ball tight and nullifying both the opposition and wind and then playing the match deep in the opposition half after the break. They carried this out perfectly and took the lead with a David Ward penalty inside the first five minutes.
The Accies then put in their best performance for a long time against Carrick by stopping them defensively and frustrating the home side. Carrick knocked on the door all half attempting to dominate up front but Omagh slammed the door behind them with the scrum in control and the lineout functioning well.This led to infringements which the visiots capitalised on by playing the lines and when in range taking shots at the posts. The home side failed to make use of what was a considerable breeeze.
Carrick missed a penalty chance late in the second half before converting in injury time at the end of the half. Half time 3-3.
“I knew that with our fitness and if we played sensibly by making full advantage of the wind and controlling the territorial battle we should go on to win, and that s what happened”, noted Marshall. Carrick could not cope with the ferocity of the defence and the discipline of the Accies. They played most of the half deep in the opposition 22, challenging the home side to go the length of the pitch to score. The Woodlawn men could not break down a well drilled defence and began to make errors and give away penalties which David Ward took advantage of, nailing three and converting a well worked try by Andy McFarland.
Omagh choked the life out of the game and ran out deserved winners by 19-3.
Very strong defensively, the Accies avenged the defeat at Carick the previous year and ensured they kept up their good form ahead of two tricky encounters, away at Lisburn next week before a Yuletide cracker at home to long term rivals, Enniskillen on the 21st December.
Mervyn Edgar may return to the panel next week depending on hom he reacts to a rib injury, while Louis Whitworth has returned to the Accies and will be added to the squad.
Team
David Ward, Andy McFarland, ryan Mitchell, Alan Heaney, Alistair Beckett, Stuart Mccain, Lee Murphy, Steven Lyons, Simon Monteith, Mark Smyth, John Sproule, Mark Millar, Richard Harpur, Richard Smyth, Andrew Ferguson ©
Sat 7th Dec, 11:00am. Omagh 22 – 12 Ballyclare
Omagh U17s off to a winning start in Cup
Omagh made a successful return to action after a three week break when they hosted Ballyclare on Saturday
Omagh U17s 22 Ballyclare U17s 12
Omagh made a successful return to action after a three week break when they hosted Ballyclare on Saturday. Despite the lack of game time Omagh started brightly with the forwards controlling the early exchanges against their larger opponents. The home side were the first to score when, after a superb break by Nathan Cummings , the ball was recycled quickly and mark brown timed his pass perfectly for James Rutledge to score in the left hand corner. The conversion was missed but Omagh were five points up with the same number of minutes on the clock. Ballyclare responded using their heavier forwards to gain possession and make ground through driving mauls. Having sucked in the home defence Ballyclare moved the ball wide for their centre to exploit a gap to touch down under the posts for a converted try. This proved a wake up call for the home team and with Sam Hamilton, Jack O,Hanlon and Michael ONeill becoming more involved they dominated the second quarter. Five minutes before the break the home pressure eventually told. Johnny McFarland took a quick penalty but when he was stopped short James Rutledge showed neat footwork as well as strength to crash over for his second unconverted try. This left Omagh going into the break with a narrow three point lead.
Omagh resumed the second half on the front foot with Aaron Hetherington and Macauley Killen making their presence felt. Now getting better quality ball out half Matthew Sweeney kicked intelligently to keep the visitors pinned back in their own half. The Accies deservedly increased the lead after mark brown gathered a loose ball and beat several defenders to score. Ballyclare refused to lie down but some great tackling by scrum half Jack Graham around the fringes prevented the visitors from breaking out. Following another passage which saw forwards and backs combining James Rutledge went in under the sticks for his third try to round off a fine individual performance.Sweeney nailed the conversion. Ballyclare fought back moving the ball through their backs at every opportunity. From one such play their centre broke clear and despite a brilliant cover tackle from Andrew Hall good support resulted in a consolation try for the visitors. This tough encounter was just what Omagh needed after their enforced lay off and will help build confidence going forward.
Team: S.Hamilton, M.Hopton-Brown, A.Hetherington, M.ONeill, J.O,Hanlon, J.Rutledge, M.Killen, J.McFarland, J.Graham, M.Sweeney, L.Clarke, A.Hall, N.Cummings, E.Orr, S.Robinson. Subs,M.Doherty,A.McFarland.
Sat 7th Dec, 11:00am. Omagh 26 – 19 Ballyclare
New players make a big impression in cup victory
Omagh Accies U13 defeat Ballyclare U13s in what turned out to be a classic cup match.
Omagh were boosted by the addition to the squad of Harry Matthews, Oran Johnston and Jack Moore from the clubs U12s. All three played very well showing that they are well able for rugby at this level with Jack Moore in particular making a big impression.
It was no surprise when Joseph Mc Garvey opened the scoring with a typically strong break from the halfway. The same player repeated the feat a few minutes later and with Matthew Murnaghan converting both the Accies held an early 14: 0 lead
Ballyclare though, to their credit, responded strongly. Their big no 8 was first to score when he broke blind from a scrum and dived over in the corner. The conversion proved beyond the Ballyclare kicker.
Ballyclare then scored, what was probably the best score of the day. Backs and forwards handled as they counterattacked from inside their own half before their impressive inside centre was on hand to receive an inside pass and dive over. This conversion was more straightforward leaving the score 14 : 12 in favour of the Omagh boys.
Both sides attacked at every opportunity with the Omagh backs looking dangerous at every opportunity. Matthew Murnaghan orchestrated things from outhalf with Jamie McElroy and Daniel Monaghan looking dangerous. Richard Laird on more than one occasion left Ballyclare defenders sprawling in his wake. A number of times it looked like the Omagh boys would score again only for the final pass to go astray.
In truth it was the defence of both teams that was on top for the rest of the half. Jack Moore matched Thomas Boyd and Simon Creane in tackling the bigger Ballyclare forwards. Rory Ritchie behind the pack made tackle after tackle. Krystian Kazmierski and Rory Lowry in particular got their hands on the ball and made several strong runs.
The second half started in the same vein and remained scoreless for at least 10 minutes. Daniel Monaghan made one excellent break and looked like he was certain to score before losing control of the ball as he dived for the line. It was Joseph Mc Garvey who broke the deadlock again with another of his trademark weaving runs. Matthew Murnaghan added the extras to extend the lead to 9 points
If the Omagh boys thought that Ballyclare would throw in the towel they were mistaken. If anything they upped their game further and their outhalf scored a fine individual score right out of Joseph Mc Garvey’s playbook. The conversion was added reducing the gap to 2 point again.
By this stage Oran Johnston, Harry Matthews and Harry Stephenson had been introduced and Aimhirgin Duffy was back playing through the pain barrier. John Paul Murray and Niall Alexander were their usual busy selves. Omagh were having to defend but when they got the opportunity to turn defence into attack they took it.
From a turnover inside their own half, the ball was moved wide by Daniel Monaghan and Richard Laird. Matthew Murnaghan had looped in support and fed his brother Rory. Rory Murnaghan beat the first man before linking with Matthew again. Matthew still had plenty to do but he just managed to touchdown in the corner before being tackled into touch. Matthew was unable to kick the conversion.
There was still time and though Ballyclare pressed Omagh almost managed another score. Jack Moore and Rory Ritchie took the ball on before the ball was moved wide again. This time Daniel Monaghan was the architect getting his hands through the tackle before passing to Jamie McElroy. Unfortunately the pass didn’t go to hand when the score seemed certain but it was great to see a skill that had been worked on in training earlier that week being put into practice.
The game ended with Matthew Murnaghan making a big defensive tackle showing that he can defend when he has to.
Youth Training continues on Thursday nights at Omagh Leisure Centre from 6.00pm until 8.00pm ahead of the League games against neighbours Clogher Valley next weekend.
New players in Years 8 & 9 would also be very welcome
