McCain’s hopeful of a bright start to season

OMAGH Accies are hoping for a positive start to their first season back in Ulster Championship One following their relegation from the All-Ireland Leagues at the end of last term.

New head coach and former first XV scrum-half, Stewart McCain is quietly confident his team can enjoy a successful campaign under his leadership after being impressed by the displays in their warm-up fixtures, including last Saturday’s against Banbridge. However, he admits it may take several weeks before fans see his side functioning fully due to injuries and late summer unavailability.

“Things are going quite well but we picked up a couple of injuries in the warm-up games and we have a few guys away, but other than that, we seem to be moving in the right direction,” he observed.

“I think we have seen some progress and I think, once we have a wee bit more of a settled team with guys back from holidays and injuries, etc, then we’ll start to see where we really are.”

First up for the Accies is a home Championship One clash with Lurgan tomorrow (Saturday) when McCain admits he will be venturing into the unknown against the County Armagh side.

“Lurgan is a club I’ve never played against,” he admitted. “They have seem to have done really well over the last number of years. They attack very well and I’m sure they will be hard to beat, but we will be keen to get a positive result on Saturday afternoon.”

Should his side achieve their goal of a winning start to the new season, McCain is hoping that can lead to the gaining the momentum they will need if they are to challenge towards the top of the table.

“I know they have been warm-up games, but there has been a good feel about the club, the players seem to be enjoying it and I think if we can get a win on Saturday that will just boost confidence and give the boys a lot of heart that the hard work they have been putting in has gone to good use,” he added,

“Ideally, what you want is momentum, but what we’ve said to the boys is we’re going to try and take it one week at a time and if we get a positive result this week then we will move on. Ideally, of course, it would be lovely to get on a run early on in the season would be great.”

Ahead of Saturday’s clash with Lurgan, McCain confirmed that new Kiwi centre, Atino and the returning Ryan Armstrong will both miss out due to injury, but that he believes their loss provides an opportunity for others.

“That’s the nature of rugby and sport but it gives someone else the opportunity to get a game, step up and you never know who you might unearth due to an injury,” he concluded.