Omagh Thirds venture shows promise-McMahon

JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST RD

IT has very much been a case of trial and error in their first competitive season up and running, but Omagh Thirds captain Eamon McMahon insists that the venture has definitely proven to be worthwhile.

St Enda’s tackle Clogher in the first round of the Junior Championship on Friday night in Fintona having not played a competitive fixture since June 14th when they were beaten by Derrytresk in Division 3B.

Subsequent to that Omagh failed to field in their remaining nine outings due to lack of numbers, even though they won almost half (four) of the league games they did partake in earlier in the campaign.

While acknowledging that such a spree of walkovers was far from ideal, Eamon McMahon stressed that the team was always going to experience teething problems during this embryonic stage of its development.

“ I say the majority of call-offs were done on a week by week basis purely because of a mixture of factors with injuries and lads not being available in the summer. A lot of boys were featuring for the reserves and seniors as well.

“ There was always going to be obstacles to face when we started off with the idea for a Thirds team but we know we have the numbers and we will hopefully learn from the problems we faced this year.

“ It’s a great idea and gives Minors lads who are finished up this year the opportunity to play adult football with the club. It’s a great platform going forward for younger boys coming through and even boys at the other side of the age scale like myself.”

The side will be managed this weekend by former Tyrone star Justin McMahon, and his younger brother Eamon warns that they aren’t going out against Clogher just to make up the numbers.

“ We definitely picked up more points than we expected early on and showed that we could compete.

“ We will give it our best shot as we always do when we go out to represent Omagh. I was doing a bit of research earlier on. I think the first time Omagh won the Tyrone Senior Championship they beat Clogher in the final, and this time around they are the opponents in our debut in the Junior Championship. Hopefully it is a good omen.”

However Friday’s fixture unfolds McMahon believes that the club will persist with a Junior side into next season.

“ It’s an idea that has been rolling for a long time. It will take time for it to run more smoothly but we are very lucky to have big numbers anyway.

“ No matter what grade it is in Tyrone it is still going to be decent quality. This year I have played on pitches that I never played on before. It has been a brilliant experience for the club albeit not all results went our way.”