Omagh seal emphatic Towns Cup win

Towns Cup

Omagh Accies 1XV....36

Portadown 1XV....8

OMAGH Accies opened 2026 with a home fixture in the Towns Cup.

The Accies won in emphatic style with a polished 36-8 victory over Portadown RFC, rewarding the crowd of supporters who braved a bitterly cold afternoon for the year's curtain-raiser.

With a 2.30pm kick-off and a stiff chill in the air, there was little to warm the fingers early on - but plenty to lift the spirits as Omagh Accies set the tone from the outset with pace, accuracy and real attacking intent.

The home side struck first after just eight minutes when Reece Braden finished smartly to put Accies 5-0 ahead. It was an early statement of intent, built on strong forward carries.

Portadown responded well and briefly threatened to swing momentum their way midway through the first half to edge in front at 5-8.

Omagh, however, showed composure and control to wrestle the game back

Matthew Eccles powered over for Accies' second try, restoring the home side's lead, and just two minutes later Ryan Mitchell added another with a well-taken try to stretch the advantage to 19-8 heading into half-time.

If the first half was competitive, the second belonged firmly to Omagh.

Playing with confidence and growing fluency, they pinned Portadown back and made their pressure count.

Just minutes after the restart Eccles grabbed his second try of the afternoon, extending the lead to 24-8.

With the forwards continuing to dominate and the backs exploiting space, the home side pressed home their advantage.

Joe Duff crossed from the back of a dominant scrum to all but seal the contest before Mitchell rounded off a fine display with his second try of the match just minutes later.

At 36-8, the result was a fair reflection of Omagh Accies control, intensity and attacking sharpness, and a hugely encouraging way to open the new year.

Despite the cold conditions, the supporters were treated to an excellent game of rugby and left with plenty to be optimistic about in the weeks ahead.

Meanwhile on the neighbouring pitch, Omagh 2XV played City of Armagh 3XV and produced a strong performance, running in tries from Jamie Rainey, Jamie Wood, Michael Gibson, Andrew Johnston, and Scott Elliott - who also added three conversions - with Corey Nugent contributing a conversion to complete the scoring.

The final score: Omagh 2XV -33 City of Armagh 3XV - 5.