Enniskillen began their pre-season programme on Saturday with a 26-0 win over Portadown at Mullaghmeen.

Jack Harte, Niall Keenan, Nick Finlay and Angus Keys scored the tries for Skins on the day while Daire Hill nailed a number of kicks as they ran out comfortable winners.

For Head Coach Stevie Welsh, it was not about the result but getting players ready for the start of the season.

“We got exactly what we wanted out of the game. It is pre-season so it is not about the result, it was about getting minutes into people’s legs and about the performance while it was good to get everyone through it unscathed,” he stated.

Welsh is hoping to integrate a number of younger faces into his squad this year from the youth ranks.

“We have the likes of Stevie Balfour, Sam Balfour and Eddie Keys who are in their first year out of school and then we have Neil Rutledge and Michael Rooney who are in their second year but we didn’t get to see them last year because the season was cancelled,” he added.

However, he has lost one key player with Ryan Cathcart calling time on his playing days.

“Ryan will be a massive loss, he is an ex-captain and has been about the club a long time. He was just a great player and was so robust so he will be hard to replace.”

Skins have two more pre-season games arranged -away to Bangor this week before hosting Lurgan the week after.

The Conference League will then commence before Skins start their league campaign in September with back to back home games including mouth-watering derby.

“We start the league with a home game against Cooke and then a home game against Clogher Valley and we’re looking forward to them,” he said.