Enniskillen Head Coach Norman Richmond is hoping his side can bounce back from the league defeat to Omagh last Saturday when they take on Ballynahinch in the Towns Cup quarter-final at Mullaghmeen this Saturday.

Omagh deservedly took the victory in last weekend’s derby encounter but Richmond says the focus has now switched to getting a run in the cup.

“We want to get back to winning ways after the defeat on Saturday,” he said. “After that lose to Omagh our goal now is to get on a run to the final stages of the Towns Cup. It is a competition that we are targeting and home advantage is a good thing for us as Ballynahinch will have to deal with the long journey.” And Richmond is still hopeful of a top three finish in the league.

“I think that we are good enough to make the top three and that’s where we will be aiming to finish. Fair play to Omagh, they deserve to be in the driving seat to go up.” Skins travelled to Mellon Park anxious to build on their improved performance record of the previous four outings. Although the season’s toll of injuries reflected on the two team selections, both clubs were keen to demonstrate how the strengths of their respective squads could now deal with these inevitable circumstances that arise during the course of a rugby season. Enniskillen fielded with three changes in the starting line-up from the team that had beaten Academy the previous week. Ashley Finlay returned to the full back position, and Nick Finlay slotted into the centre to partner Alan Wilkinson in place of Nathan Richmond, who was unavailable. Mark Hood made his first start for Skins in the front row, with Ryan Cathcart and Richard Beatty, and Kyle Johnston switched from the wing to scrum-half duties.

The game was played in near perfect conditions with Omagh, having won the toss, opting to kick-off to the visitors. Enniskillen displayed immediate intent, controlling possession for the opening period, playing the game in the opposition half. Omagh’s defence was resolute in their determination to thwart any attempts to cross their line. After six minutes they did eventually concede a penalty for an off-side infringement after David Buchanan, who had gathered possession from a line-out, drove deep into their half.

Chris McVitty duly obliged with the resulting kick to register the opening score of the afternoon.

Shortly after the re-start Enniskillen did manage to out-flank the Omagh defence, but were unable to finish the move with the line at their mercy. This narrow escape seemed to spur on the home side, who had taken a little longer to settle into the game. The level of intensity at the breakdown reflected the commitment and desire to control proceedings by both teams, and in an effort to stamp his authority at an early stage of the game the referee yellow carded Enniskillen’s Jack Harte, who was followed shortly after to the bin by Omagh’s Paul Todd.

At this stage in the game the Omagh forwards were beginning to dominate the opposition eight, at both scrums and line-outs. They consistently managed to disrupt the Enniskillen line-out by putting their jumpers into the air prior to the ball been thrown in, an infringement not penalised until mid-way through the second half. The home side enjoyed a period of dominance, building phases and protecting possession. Then eventually in the 28th minute they took full advantage of a mix-up in the visitors defence, moved the ball to Brown on the right wing who crossed the line to touch down for the opening try of the game. Murphy converted to give Omagh a four point advantage.

This was then further extended when, in their anxiety to regain control of the ball, Enniskillen were penalised for going off-side at a ruck. The resulting penalty was duly converted to leave the home seven points ahead at the end at the interval.

From the re-start both packs tried to control territory, with neither side managing to establish dominance. The third quarter of the game being played between the two 22 metre lines. Enniskillen’s efforts eventually paid off when the home side defence was deemed to have been off-side at the break-down. McVitty reduced arrears by three points with the resulting penalty.

The home side riposte was almost immediate. Omagh attacked the Enniskillen line from the resulting re-start. They drove at the visitor’s defence, managing to control the ball, building several phases, before releasing Mitchell on the wing to score the first of his brace of tries for the afternoon. Any notion the visitors may have had about a comeback were quickly dispelled when, five minutes later, he crossed their line again to put the outcome beyond any doubt.

Then as if to compound Enniskillen’s woes, Omagh once again breached their stretched defence to bring their tally for the afternoon to a credible 25 points.