1st Xv lose to S’ Wells
6 March 2023
2’S Narrow Loss
11 March 2023Omagh Accies 3rd XV made the short journey to neighbours Dungannon RFC 2nd XV on Wednesday night hoping to continue their strong run of form of late and triumph against a team in the top 3 of the league.
Kicking off, Omagh had to defend for the first ten minutes and the game was very disjointed with plenty of scrums and set piece play. Despite being under pressure all night at scrum time, Omagh held their own ball and did not concede any penalties which gave them a foothold in the game against the bigger Dungannon pack.
After weathering the initial Dungannon storm, Omagh played some good rugby of their own and when a kickable penalty was awarded the shot was taken and duly converted by out half Will Stewart to send Omagh into a 0-3 lead after 15 minutes.
Omagh continued their entertaining brand of rugby by moving the larger Dungannon pack around and this paid dividends for the next 10 minutes as Bailey Irvine and Andrew Catterson both dotted down to send Omagh into a 0-13 lead after 25 minutes.
Dungannon fought back into the match in the remainder of the half as they scored 3 converted tries to lead 21-13 at the break. A mix of poor defence and indiscipline loosened Omagh’s grip on the game but at half time the message was they were still in it but they had to improve.
Going out for the second half Omagh again started brightly and they were rewarded when another kickable penalty was dispatched by Out half Stewart before Bailey sailed down the wing once again to level the game at 21-21.
In this topsy turvy encounter, the pendulum swung back and forth all game and Dungannon would score the games next try, converted once again, to go into a 28-21 lead with around 20 minutes remaining.
Omagh never gave up all evening and when they lowered their tackle height they managed to restrict the hosts to scraps and from one such occasion they turned the ball over and made their way up to Dungannon’s 22. With good possession and phases Omagh sniffed the chance of another score so Catterson stepped into out half, threw a pass behind his enrushing forwards which bounced favourably for Stewart to run in from 15 metres. He again converted and the scores were level at 28-28 with ten minutes remaining.
Omagh seemed to go into their shells for the next 5 minutes which resulted in the hosts regaining the lead from a penalty but they were not to be denied as that man on the wing again, Bailey Irvine, was sent free after some good play from Omagh and he raced clear to complete his hat trick and send Omagh into a decisive lead with 3 minutes to go.
With the clock running down, Omagh’s slender 31-33 advantage ensured their concentration was high and after fielding the kick off they kicked downfield and defended well. Another turnover was gained and after a few phases the ball was kicked out to allow Omagh to celebrate a momentous victory.
A brilliant clash for the neutral with plenty of tries and running rugby despite the freezing conditions. The game was played in a good spirit and refereed well with Omagh more than happy to head back down the A5 carrying all five points.
With only one league game remaining Omagh 3rd XV lie in sixth place, with their highest possible finish being 5th, and they still have a Crawford Plate Semi Final to play against Ballynahinch 3rd XV in two weeks time.
3rd XV remaining fixtures:
• Saturday 18th March - Enniskillen 2 - Home – League
• Saturday 25th March – Ballynahinch 3 – Away – Crawford Plate Semi Final
Omagh Accies 2XV (1-17)
J. Reid, P. McKelvey (c), G. Sherrard, D. Cummings, A. Crawford, N. Logan, J. Rainey, S. Monteith, A. Colhoun, W. Stewart, B. Irvine, A. Catterson, J. Choi, J. Beattie, J. Adams, B. Smith, J. Brown & J. Wood.
