BHSFP V OMAGH
Without a win so far in the League High School went into this home fixture knowing that it was an opportunity to collect some valuable points against a side also struggling to find form. With captain David Mayne back in harness the team had a more confident look about it with players slotting into regular positions. Andy Morrison moved back into the second row while Jope Witi retained his place in the back row following some good performances of late.
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| The game got underway and immediately the High School side
found themselves under pressure from the Omagh side. An early penalty
opportunity fell to Omagh but the effort was put wide as High School
continued to defend their territory. The defence was good though as the
mobile back row of Witi , Hanna and Price closed down the Omagh backline
giving them no chance to move the ball in any meaningful way.
As the first quarter progressed High School settled down and were able to get more into the game. The set piece was functioning well and in particular the scrum was telling a tale on the Omagh eight who found themselves under increasing pressure as the game wore on.
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| With seventeen minutes on the clock Omagh were given another penalty opportunity and this time the kick was good giving the visitors the initial points advantage. High School were not panicking though as they continued to defend as necessary and gradually move into Omagh territory. Good work by the High School backline threatened the Omagh line on a number of occasions but as has been the case recently the final pass or conceded penalty often led to the loss of the advantage. The visitors though were not creating many opportunities in the second quarter and as the match approached half time another High School attack bore fruit. With good ball coming from the set piece on the Omagh 22 scrum half Kenny McCullough fed David Mayne at outhalf Seeing the gap in front of him David cleverly side stepped the opposition for a clear run in under the posts. The conversion by the try scorer was good and High School were now deservedly in the lead. | |
HALF TIME BHSFP 7 V 3 OMAGH |
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| With the game still anybody’s the second half kicked off
and in contrast to the start of the first half High School went on the
attack and camped in the Omagh 22 for long periods . The line outs and
scrums were being dominated by High School who were winning copious
amounts of ball through the work of David Hanna and Chris Mills. The Omagh
defence however withstood the High School onslaught and despite their best
attempts High School were unable to cross the Omagh line when another try
seemed inevitable.
As the second half wore on Omagh had a missed penalty opportunity on one of their rare excursions into High School territory. Unfortunately no further points were secured by either side in this half and although High School were comfortable in holding the Omagh side in check it was essential towards the end of the game that a breakaway opportunity did not fall Omaghs way.
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| Unfortunately with seven minutes left on the clock High
School were the recipients of a yellow card decision that meant the
introduction of uncontested scrums. This allowed Omagh to breathe easier
without the added pressure of the High School pack driving them back
continually as had been the case up to this point.
As the game moved towards a close an unfortunate incident occurred when a High School player was the recipient of an “of the ball” punch . This in turn led to a general brawl that marred an otherwise clean and incident free match. When matters settled down the referee administered a yellow card to an Omagh player and brought the match to an end with High School winning the match .
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| This was an essential win for High School which will give
some much needed breathing space as the League programme develops.
FINAL SCORE BHSFP 7 - 3 OMAGH
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