Derby disappointment at the double for Acciettes but delight for Dungannon

Omagh Accies….12

Dungannon………17

OMAGH Accies were left wondering what might have been when they lost 12-17 at home to derby rivals Dungannon in the Deloitte Women’s Premiership in their most recent match.

The Acciettes bossed the first period of the game, but only had a try from skipper RJ McKeown to show for their efforts, while Dungannon led by seven points. Having had three tries ruled out – one was held up and two others because of unsighted groundings – the home side were understandably frustrated and while Shannon McCallion scored their second try, converted by Amy Patterson, they were unable to overhaul their visitors who had sisters, Niamh (2) and Sarah Marley on the scoresheet to secure a second derby win of the season.

“The girls played very well in what was a really physical game,” observed McKeown.

“The first half, we dominated and we spent most of it camped out in their 22. The scoreline didn’t reflect the possession or the game.

“The girls played really, really well but a couple of very minor errors allowed their winger get a good run.

“It’s one that got away but if we had got those couple of tries it would have been a very different scoreline.”

After the match, McKeown, Patterson and Sheerin were selected by watching Ulster coach, Neil Alcorn, to join the Ulster development squad session.

The Acciettes will host City of Derry in the cup this coming Sunday when they will be hoping to return to full strength and to bounce back with a win.

Dungannon coach, Conor McMeel, meanwhile, was understandably pleased by his side’s performance and result, which was earned despite playing for over 20 minutes with just 14 players due to yellow cards for Emma Johnson and Rebecca Todd.

“It was a war of attrition but we got their in the end,” acknowledged Dungannon coach, Conor McMeel.

“There was no quarter given and it was a good game of rugby. It was a good result considering we were missing a few bodies.

“It was an honest and a very hard fought encounter and when I look back on it I was disappointed we didn’t get the bonus point because we were on the line a couple of times towards the end.

“But we’ll take what we’ve got because we went up the road looking a victory and we came down the road with one.”

Having cemented their third place in the table and kept the pressure on the top two, Cavan and Queen’s, Dungannon will change their focus to the Cup this coming Sunday when they travel to Championship side, Portadown.

However, as a Newcastle United fan, McMeel isn’t getting too excited about facing lower league opposition: “I’m a Newcastle United supporter so I’m very aware of what the Cup can do to you,” he joked after watching his soccer team getting dumped out of the FA Cup at the third round stage at home against Cambridge United on Saturday.

He continued: “We’re hopeful of making a bit of progress and if we can get to the semi-final of the cup then we can give it a rattle.”

Omagh Ladies: R Rainey, C Keatley, N Molloy, S Hamilton, J Pollock, RJ McKeown (cpt), S Rennie, L Monteith, A Patterson, G McCann, S McCallion, S Sheerin, L Hawkes, K McLaughlin, C McGowan, L Stewart, A McLaughlin, C Connolly.

Dungannon: T Hutton, S Pogue, G Roper, R Todd, T McCormack, E Johnson, C Wilson (cpt), C Moore, L Saunders, N Dunwoody, J McKeown, A McKeown, N Marley, S Marley, S Lynch, L Kelly, J Colvin, S McCaul, M Dunwoody, E Rice.