By 
OMAGH Academy and Enniskillen Royal Grammar School served up a nerve-jangling Danske Bank Schools Bowl cracker at Campsie Playing Fields, with the Fermanagh men edging an engrossing contest by just one point in the end.
With the two teams begging coached by friends and Omagh Accies colleagues, Ryan Mitchell and Stewart McCain, there was more than just bragging rights between the players at stake and the teams responded in style, with ERGS just shading it on the day.
After an evenly fought first half, which saw the sides enter the break scoreless, ERGS broke the deadlock at the start of the second period with three penalties off the accurate boot of Sam Paton. Omagh responded well and narrowed the gap with a Ryan Mitchell try but when Jake Irwin crossed the whitewash almost immediately to increase the visitors lead to 14-5, the Academy’s challenge suddenly became all the tougher.
But they bounced back once more, with Sam Harper knocking over a penalty before Harry McIlwaine dotted down with a late try in the corner. Unfortunately for Mitchell and his players, the difficult conversion from the touchline missed and their dreams of a quarter-final berth disappeared, while ERGS have earned a last-eight home clash with Banbridge Academy.
ERGS head coach, McCain, who is also the Accies head coach, was impressed by both side’s performance on the day.
“We played some really good rugby in the first half,” he observed. “We spent a lot of time between their 40 and try line and we didn’t score, so we were a little bit disappointed at half-time to come in nil-each.
“But the message to the guys was to not panic, keep doing the same things and then the opportunities will come. It came a wee bit different than we thought with two soft penalties, which were real bonus penalties for us.
“Omagh dug in really well and they were brilliant defensively in the first half, then in the second half they came back at us really hard.
“It was really pleasing because we managed the game really well. It was a really close game, a classic cup, knockout, derby game. A lot of the boys put everything into it from both sides, they were really committed defensively and overall it was a really good game of rugby.”
While disappointed by the result, Omagh Academy’s teacher in charge of rugby, Ryan Mitchell, a winger for the Accies, was delighted by his team’s efforts on the day and he’s keen for them to bounce back ahead of a home Trophy quarter-final clash with Strabane Academy which will take place on Wednesday afternoon (February 4th) at Campsie.
“It was a good, classic derby fixture,” Mitchell acknowledged. “We held on and dug in really well in the first half but in the second they kicked three penalties in the first five or 10 minutes when a bit of ill-discipline cost us.
“We had talked at half-time about not giving them easy opportunities and then we gave them those easy opportunities, which was a big frustrating, but we came back really well and the heart and character from the guys was great.
“The guys have had a really good season and they shouldn’t let a result, losing by a point, define their season. The progress they’ve made, some of the memories they have had and the enjoyment they’ve got out of it is what it’s all about.
“Sometimes small things don’t go right on a Saturday morning but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad rugby player and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad team.
“It’s narrow margins, but hopefully the boys will pick themselves up because we go into the Trophy quarter-final now. The guys have the chance to go and push to win the Trophy.”
