Accies lose ground

OMAGH Accies lost ground in the battle at the bottom of the Energia All-Ireland League 2C table on Saturday after they fell to a 27-19 reverse to third from bottom Bruff.

Clem McCaulife opened the scoring for Bruff, who had the strong wind at their backs in the first half, with Paul Collins adding the extras to give the home side a 7-0 lead before Omagh struck back through Ryan Mitchell’s unconverted effort.

A Paul Collins penalty kept Bruff ahead but the Accies responded in style with Mervyn Edgar crossing he whitewash for Scott Elliott to convert to five them a 10-12 lead, which proved short lived as Collins knocked over a penalty.

Unfortunately for the visitors, a yellow card for Conor Spencer and converted tries from Fionn Flanagan and Collins extended Bruff’s lead to 27-12 and although Matthew Eccles scored and Elliott converted, the Accies were unable to grab a fourth try which would have earned them two bonus points.

“We played well into the wind in the first half, we managed conditions all right,” Accies skipper Matthew Clyde acknowledged. “It was a typical close game but a couple of penalties, a lack of discipline, cost us. They kept the scoreboard ticking and got their kicks, whereas discipline and things keep costing us and we maybe didn’t manage the second half as well as we’d have wanted to.

With basement boys Tullamore set to visit second from bottom Omagh tomorrow before the Christmas break, a home win is vital, especially with the reverse fixtures (away to Tullamore and home to Bruff) coming immediately after the festive frivolities.

“We have to pick ourselves up for Tullamore,” Clyde added. “There’s still positives [from Bruff] but we have to cut out the penalties and things like that.

“There’s plenty to work on but there are positives to take because we had some young lads came in and did well like Shea Daly, who did well in his first game for the firsts.

“But we’ll just target the next game and try to build a bit of momentum, finish this block [of fixtures] strong with a home win next weekend.”