Great Scott inspires Omagh to victory

SCOTT Elliott produced an influential performance with ball in hand and with his boot as Omagh Accies clinched a 31-28 victory over Clonmel in their opening Energia All-Ireland League 2C fixture of the season.

Saturday was the first time Omagh had been at home on the opening day of the season since returning to the senior ranks in 2017 and they made the most of it in a thrilling encounter that wasn’t decided until the death.

The see-saw nature of the game was evident from the off as Clonmel edged in front through a seventh minute Tony Cantwell try converted by Joe O’Connor. But Omagh responded well and Elliott drew the sides level when he scored and converted his own try.

Back came the visitors, however, as Freddie Davis added an unconverted try to edge Clonmel back in front before Conor Spencer darted over and Elliott added the extras to put the Accies in front for the first time in the match.

But Clonmel responded well with an O’Connor penalty, which Elliott responded to with a similar effort before O’Connor made it 17-18 at the interval with his second three pointer of the match..

After the restart, Elliott knocked over two penalties in the space of five minutes to put his side into a 23-18 lead, but that joy was short-lived as Tom Ross crossed the whitewash for a Clonmel score, which O’Connor converted.

Yet again, though, the Accies battled back, scoring arguably the try of the day following a flowing move that Elliott finished off before converting to make it 28-25.

There were more twists yet to come, however, as Clonmel drew level with only a few minutes left when O’Connor completed his 13 points haul but at the death, that man Elliott delivered when it mattered, kicking his fourth penalty of the day to make it 26 points for him and 31 for Omagh as they earned a vital victory at home.

“It was a tough Clonmel side. They were very dangerous from the get-go but we stuck at it. It was a game of fine margins,” a relieved Accies skipper Matthew Clyde acknowledged.

“It was an entertaining game, both teams were going at it. There was nothing in it, it was end-to-end stuff and with both kickers doing well it kept the scoreboard ticking for both teams.

“We kept working away and it was nice to get the reward for that in the end. At 28-25 up with a few minutes to go, it would have been a wee bit gutting to come away with a draw at that stage, so everyone was delighted to go up the other end of the pitch and get the win.

“It was a good start and we’re delighted with it in our first All-Ireland opening day home game in a long time. It’s nice to start off with a win.”

Omagh face a long journey and a tough test this coming Saturday when they travel to Cork to face a Dolphin team who were in the top flight of All-Ireland League rugby less than a decade ago.

They also got off to a winning start at the weekend when they travelled to and defeated Bruff 15-20, thanks to an impressive performance from full back Jordan Soli, who scored 15 of their points.

And Clyde realises his side will need to improve if there are to claim another victory this coming weekend.

“There was a lot of tough defence and we did well in attack but it wasn’t a sterling performance at all,” he observed. “There’s definitely plenty to work on this week before Dolphin but we’re just taking it a game at a time and we’ll enjoy the win.

“There’s plenty to improve on before we head down to Cork.

OMAGH TEAM

D Braden, R Braden, S Creane, Jo Sproule, Ja Sproule, C Huey, M Gibson, M Clyde (cpt), F Lagan, S Elliott, R Mitchell, C W-Spencer, J Kyle, T Lagan, A Beckett. Replacements: J Brolly, Ro Mitchell, S Wilson, S Beattie, St Beattie.