Sat 5th Oct, 11:00am. Omagh 26 – 5 Lisburn
Omagh U17 of to winning start in league
by David Stewart
Omagh began their league campaign on Saturday with a hard fought victory over a spirited Lisburn side
Omagh began their league campaign on Saturday with a hard fought victory over a spirited Lisburn side . In perfect conditions Omagh started brightly with Michael O’Neill and Johnny McFarland carrying ball deep into Lisburn territory. After a period of concerted pressure Mark Hopton-Brown crashed over from close range to open the scoring with Matthew Sweeney adding the conversion. Omagh continued to dominate and increased their lead when,from a well controlled driving maul James Kee emerged to claim the try. Omagh’s game plan of quickly recycling the ball and getting their forwards running at the opposition was paying dividends with Heatherington and Hamilton always prominent. Omagh scored again after a planned lineout move resulted in Brown touching down with Sweeney again adding the extras. As the half ended Lisburn had a period of pressure which ended with a score in the corner to reduce the arrears.
Knowing the next score was vital Omagh set about their task with the forwards providing good quality ball for scrum half Graham to get the backline moving. Ten minutes into the second half Omagh got their reward when Brown broke through to notch up his third score which Sweeney converted. Omagh then took their foot of the pedal and allowed the visitors to control possession for the remainder of the game.However Lisburn could find no way through the solid home defence and the game ended without further scoring. This was a solid start for the Omagh boys with their hard work in training starting to be rewarded.
Team : A.Heatherington, M.Hopton-Brown, S,Hamilton, J.Kee, M.ONeill, M.Killed, J.McFarland, J.Rutledge, J.Graham, M.Sweeney, N.Cummings, L.Clarke, S.Robinson, E.Orr, A.McFarland, Subs,J.OHanlon, M.McConway, M.Doherty,S.Loane.
