Lenny looking for Omagh to get key men back

A much needed victory before this current pause in league action came as a timely boost for new Omagh manager Lenny Harbinson.

After three defeats on the spin, St Enda’s returned to the winners enclosure last weekend with a fully merited eight point success away to Greencastle.

Five points from play by man of the match Ronan Strain, allied to a late Ronan O’Neill goal, steered Omagh across the finish line on a 1-14 to 0-9 scoreline.

Former Antrim manager Harbinson moved into the Healy Park hot-seat during the off-season and despite the difficult start, he is relishing the challenge.

“ This is my first experience of Tyrone league football. It’s very competitive and tough. I’m delighted to be here and working with Omagh St Enda’s.”

Like all leading clubs Omagh have had to make-do without their county contingent in the first five rounds of Starred matches, but on top of their absence, Harbinson states that he also has had to contend with a long casualty list during the early stages of his tenure.

“ Over the last number of weeks we have been really struggling with injuries. There has been eight or nine players from our senior squad missing. That’s not an excuse that is just the reality.

“ We have used a lot of our reserves and under-20 players which is good from the aspect of gaining them experience but at the same time you want to get points on the board. That has been the frustrating element but hopefully over the next number of weeks we can get some of these injured players back and make ourselves stronger and more competitive. That will strengthen us.”

Omagh now have four points on the board from their five Division One outings (their only other win coming at home to Coalisland in their opener) but Lenny feels that they could have accrued another one or two by now.

“ There is maybe another game in there which we could have won. We have had a few tight ones which we lost recently but the pleasing aspect as I said is giving some of the younger boys more experience.

“ In the last three matches we gave away cheap goals. It was the case again last week against Eglish. That allowed them to build momentum in the early stages of the second half. We came back into it but just couldn’t close the gap.

“ So against Greencastle it was good to get the two points and I was also happy with the actual performance. We have been competitive with limited resources in most of our games and that is probably the most pleasing thing.”

By the time St Enda’s are next in action the inter-conty season will be wrapped up from Tyrone’s perspective. Harbinson expects the intensity levels to be shifted up a notch or two by then, with everyone back to near full strength in Division One.

“ I suppose if Tyrone go on a run we will get a couple of weeks break which mightn’t be a bad thing to get our injured players back. That is the practical way to look at it.

“ But things will definitely be cranked up a gear in the next round of the league with lots of teams getting their County men back. Hopefully we can start building a bit of momentum with players coming back and bring that on into the Championship then in September.”