Accies on the ‘Money with emphatic win

OMAGH Accies picked up their biggest win in some time on Saturday when they thumped Ballymoney 68-0 at the Thomas Mellon Playing Fields in Ulster Championship One.

The emphatic victory was secured thanks to a start to finish performance that saw Stewart McCain’s side put their visitors to the sword during an emphatic first half during which they engineered a 49-0 lead before keeping their opponents at bay, while also maintaining their focus and effort levels high during an essentially meaningless second period.

“Everything clicked for us and we kept the pressure on,” beamed team captain, Matthew Clyde, who was delighted to help guide his side to a third win in a row following a performance that was as clinical in defence as it was in attack.

He continued: “We’ve building over the last few weeks with good performances, but it was good to get a full 80 minute performance to build on the last couple of performances.

“It was good to keep them out because that was the target [at half-time], to keep them to nil and that was testament to the defence, which was great at times.

“It could have turned into a looser game [in the second half] but the boys were buzzing and hopefully we can kick on from here.”

Omagh got off to a flying start with Scott Elliott crossing under the posts for the opening try, which he calmly converted himself. The momentum kept rolling as David Braden powered over for the second, with Elliott again adding the extras.

Barely moments later, Shea Daly stormed through for the third score, and Elliott’s boot was once more on target. Elliott then turned provider, setting up Scott Barr to touch down for the fourth try, before slotting the conversion with ease to keep his flawless kicking streak alive.

Ryan Mitchell looked certain to add another after a blistering break but was dragged into touch just short of the line. Scott Wilson soon made amends, however, dotting down for the fifth, with Elliott continuing his fine form from the tee. Mitchell then finally got his reward, stretching the lead to 40-0, Elliott’s sixth straight kick making it 42–0.

Sean Kerr produced a barnstorming run from deep to claim Omagh’s seventh try of the half, Elliott again converting for a 49–0 scoreline at the break.

Kerr opened the second half with another powerful finish, though Elliott narrowly missed his first kick of the day, leaving it 54–0. Mitchell grabbed his second of the match, and this time Elliott nailed a difficult conversion to extend the lead to 61–0. Jamie Sproule was next on the scoresheet, pushing Omagh to 66 before Elliott’s boot carried it further to 68–0.

Ballymoney showed more fight in the second half, but Omagh’s defensive line stood firm to see out a commanding performance.

Omagh know they will face a much sterner test this coming Saturday, however, when they travel to last season’s league winners, Dromore in County Down.

“We’ll knuckle down in training [this week] and we’ll expect a much tougher test going to Dromore,” observed Clyde, who is hopeful the recent run of results can help improve confidence and belief within the ranks.

He added: “We’re getting belief back in the players. We all know the quality is there and the lads have been working hard in training, so it was nice to get the reward for it and hopefully we can keep it going.”