‘Tough challenges’ lie ahead for in-form Accies

AFTER making it two wins on the bounce on Saturday when they defeated Ballymena seconds 34-21 at Eaton Park in the Junior Cup, Omagh Accies first XV are growing in confidence but not complacency ahead of two tough Ulster Championship One encounters.

This coming Saturday they entertain a solid Ballymoney outfit, followed a week later by a challenging trip to a Dromore side, who are expected by many to be one of the title challengers this season.

But after brushing aside Randalstown away from home in their last league clash before impressing in victory over Ballymena’s second string on Saturday past, the Accies believe they can continue their winning ways this coming weekend by building on their last two performances.

“We’ll try to build on the last two performances and kick on from there,” team captain, Matthew Clyde explained.

“It’s nice to get back to winning ways and it’s great to see a bit of a buzz about the place and hopefully we can use the momentum and keep improving and keep the wins coming.

“I’m expecting the next couple of games to be a big step up again, so hopefully we can use the last couple of weeks to push us on.”

After watching his side play impressively during the first half and the final stages of the second half at Ballymena, head coach Stewart McCain admits there is still plenty for his side to work on ahead of the forthcoming fixtures.

On Saturday, Sean Kerr opened the scoring with the first try, quickly followed by Shea Daly and Ryan Mitchell to give Omagh a 17-point lead at half-time.

Ballymena fought back with three tries in the second half, but much to McCain’s delight, his side bounced back in style with Kerr, Scott Barr and Mitchell each crossing the line to seal the win.

“A couple of the tries we conceded were quite disappointing to give away but we struck back straight away after one of them, Sean Kerr scored a great individual try in the corner but overall we just stayed calm, kept working at how we want to play and went through the phases and hoped to wear them down, so it was very pleasing to get it over the line,” he observed.

McCain is hopeful his side’s wins over Randalstown and Ballymena II can not only breed more confidence within his squad but also momentum. However, he isn’t getting carried away given how tough their next two fixtures are.

“It’s starting to get a bit of confidence in the boys, they’re starting to play some nice rugby, which is very good,” he beamed.

“[Ballymoney and Dromore] are obviously tough challenges coming up but if the boys are confident and we play at our level then we can beat anyone on our day. It’s just a matter of taking it game by game.

“Momentum is massive. It’s much easier going to training on a Tuesday and a Thursday after a win. It encourages the boys how hard they are working is paying off, so it’s great.”

Meanwhile, Omagh’s second XV fell to a 13-29 reverse to their Portadown counterparts in Provincial Premier One on Saturday. Scores for Omagh came from Michael Gibson (try), BJ Wilson (try) and a penalty from Oisín Hone, while Portadown secured the win with five tries and two conversions.