Portadown 3 8 vs 13 Omagh 3 Omagh 3Xv Win Again
Omagh went to Portadown on Saturday looking to pick up another win in Section 3 of the Junior league. Fielding a much changed side to the one that dismantled Coleraine a week ago, with 3 players making the step up to senior rugby from the under 19’s. That being said despite playing a much larger and more aggressive side the Accies 3’s went about their business with confidence and showed that size definitely doesn’t matter. Player of the match Sheldon Monteith was a shining example of this, going about his business with aplomb and out tackling his younger opposite number. Early exchanges kept the ball within the central half of the pitch, Portadown where happy to use big runners down the 12 channel at Omagh however they did not count on the ferocious tackling of Graham Murray and the hard work of Paul Mellon at the breakdown which slowed the ball and gave Omagh possession on the opposing 40 metre line. Omagh duly placed the ball in the corner and went for the driving lineout. A break by Darren Kane down the blindside saw another penalty come as he was un-ceremoniously dumped on his head in an illegal tackle. From the resulting lineout Stephen moffitt broke through and used his strength to crash over the line. Graham Murray then stroked the resulting conversion to leave Omagh 7-0 up. Omagh then were in the ascendancy, with Portadown not troubling their lines, a break by Captain Peter Todd saw them surge into the opposing 22 whereby Portadown infringed by coming in at the side, Graham Murray then landed a penalty to leave it 10-0. Portadown then grew in confidence after a couple of ‘off the ball’ incidents. A break by their winger down the open side saw him score in the corner, the score not affecting the tempo of the game as losing Gareth Lyons to injury with 10 mins to go in the first half hurt more. The second half stated with Omagh immediately under pressure, indecision of youth saw a mistake from the kick off and Portadown attacked the line only to be held up by Sheldon Monteith over the line. The resulting exchanges were much the same as the first with the game contained in the middle of the park. Portadown however enjoyed the bulk of possession, the game then unfortunately had to be halted after a nasty looking ankle injury to the Portadown number eight, and Omagh would like to wish him a speedy recovery. After a 20 minute wait the game restarted and it was clear the heart had been taken out of Portadown, Omagh now enjoyed more of the ball and a penalty from Neill Mellon saw them 13-8 to the good and with 5 mins left to play. Omagh 3’s were heavily tested on Saturday as Portadown is an extremely tough away fixture, out sized they showed alot of heart and ability against a side that has beaten teams above Omagh in the league standings, and they did it with 14 men for 60 minutes of the game. Omagh now face a tough away fixture to Instonian 3’s this weekend.
Omagh U13s 7 : 59 Monaghan
Omagh 13’s were brought back to earth against a physically bigger and well drilled Monaghan side on Saturday.
Monaghan are traditionally strong at this level and this side were no exception. Unfortunately the Omagh boys initially seemed in awe of their powerful opponents and a series of missed tackles saw Monaghan score three quick tries.
To their credit though the Omagh boys clawed their way back into the match with Andrew Creane and Simon Creane leading the way. Cu Mhara Duffy and Michael Marechaux also made big tackles and Philip Rainey was making a real nuisance of himself at the breakdown.
As the half wore on the young Accies started to enjoy some good possession and the Omagh backs caused danger bells to ring. Aimhirgin Duffy, Matthew Murnaghan and Daniel Monaghan in particular showed good pace and distribution to allow Bailey Irvine an opportunity to fly down the wing only to be stopped by a last ditch Monaghan tackler. Jamie McElroy also showed that direct running at pace will cause difficulties for any defence.
Unfortunately Monaghan broke through for another score against the run of play before it was the turn of Joseph McGarvey to take centre stage. The young flier did it all himself, wrestling the ball from the hands of an opponent before beating five other players for pace on the way to scoring under the posts for the second week in a row. Matthew Murnaghan added the conversion.
Monaghan managed a further try before half time to leave the score 31 : 7 at the break.
The second half was a much tighter affair with the two packs evenly matched. Glenn McKinley, Adam Porter and Adam Giles carried well and John Paul Murray and Conor Bratton repeatedly stopped the bigger boys in their tracks. Jack Gibson too continued his recent good form with one very impressive carry in particular.
Monaghan did manage to score 4 more times in the second half but all 4 were breakaway scores from distance.
The Omagh boys can take credit for not allowing the bad start get their heads down. Ultimately they competed manfully against their bigger opponents. They say that you learn most from playing against superior opposition and given that most of the Omagh boys have another year at his level Saturday’s experience will certainly stand to them.
