By 
OMAGH Accies produced a performance of grit, determination, flair and skill at a rain-lashed CIYMS on Thursday night as they moved third in the Ulster Championship 1 table after earning a deserved 41-0 victory in Belfast.
Motivated, not only by the yearning to continue a winning run that saw them brush aside Cooke, Portadown and Ballymena II in recent weeks, but to put in a performance their fellow clubman and friend, the late Ian Scott would have relished. And the Accies delivered on both fronts.
Before kick-off, both sides held a minute’s silence for ‘Scotty’, and the Accies, who were forced into a minor reshuffle with Jamie Sproule, Ricky Hemphill, Scott Elliott and Ryan Mitchell all unavailable, immediately set about making him proud.
From the first whistle, they attacked, cutting through the CI rearguard with incisiveness as the clinical Matthew Clyde opened the scoring with the first of a hat-trick for the winger.
5-0 soon became 12 as Clyde again crossed the whitewash and Conor Watherson Spencer converted. Scott Barr then got in on the act with a try converted by Spencer.
CI did offer some resistance at the start of the second half and they found themselves denied on the Omagh line as the visiting defence proved as clinical as their attacking, which was varied and inventive. And their progressive play was rewarded after the restart when Sam Beattie secured the bonus point with an unconverted effort before Barr scored his second of the evening, converted by Spencer, while fittingly, Eccles completed the scoring with his third, scampering through on the right before diving over the line in the corner.
At the conclusion of the fixture, which ended with the Accies scoring more than 40 points for the third game running, team captain, Matthew Clyde was delighted, not only with the result, but the fact they did it in such wet conditions and without so many regular starters.
“It worked out well,” he beamed. “We showed the squad depth there at the moment, that we’re still able to perform and do the business.
“Some of the tries were great and some of the supporters said afterwards that they weren’t expecting such an entertaining game with the conditions.
“Some of the back plays -obviously we set the platform as forwards and the set piece was good – but I thought the backs were very clinical.”
Since the turn of the year, Omagh have won five straight games – two in the Towns Cup and three in the league – and Clyde admits that an improvement in their consistency throughout matches is starting to pay dividends.
“It’s more enjoyable winning games,” he acknowledged. “We’re on a bit of a run at the moment, so we’re trying to keep the momentum going, get more consistent with our performances.
“We’ve seen, probably since the new year, we’re starting to get real momentum, winning games and the guys are getting more confidence from that.
“It’s really pleasing to be scoring plenty of tries at the minute, but our defence is doing well too and it was really pleasing to keep [CIYMS] to nil [on Thursday night].”
Next up for Omagh is a home clash this coming Saturday when Randalstown come to the Thomas Mellon Playing Fields.
