Double delight as Omagh girls book final spots at Affidea

THERE were celebrations all round on Sunday afternoon as both the Omagh U14s and U16s girls' rugby teams booked their places in their respective cup finals after both came away with fantastic wins at the Thomas Mellon Playing fields.

With the rise of girls' rugby nationally and locally, the west of the Province, in particular Omagh, have really risen to the top.

Prior to kick off, the teams held a minute's silence in memory of former Accies player Ian Scott, whose daughter, Sophie, plays for the U16 team.

First up on Sunday, the U14 team faced a combined side of City of Armagh/Dungannon.

Omagh were put on the back foot early on when the opposition opened the scoring early in the first half.

Conditions were tough but the Omagh girls were tougher and they managed to equalise just before the half with an Emily McCance try.

This gave the Omagh girls the lift they needed and they dominated the second half with McCance scoring another two tries and Lexi Armstrong also putting her name on the scoresheet.

The game finished with a 20-5 win for the Omagh girls.

The U16 girls knew they had a tough day ahead of them as they faced a strong Virginia side.

Omagh shocked Virginia within the first minute with a well worked try from Layla McCaffrey.

This was converted by the Omagh skipper, Emily Irwin. After that, Omagh were looking strong - great runs and ball handling gave Irwin the opportunity to go over the try line three times inside ten minutes.

She converted one of her tries. Virginia didn't lie down and they responded with a converted try after 24 minutes.

This shocked the Omagh girls and they responded by sending Irwin over the try line again. Half-time score: 29-7.

The second half was a game of swings and roundabouts. Irwin continued to run the lines and scored within the first three minutes.

Her team mate, Sophie Hamilton, added the points with a successful conversion.

Omagh switched off for 15 minutes and Virginia punished them, scoring four tries and converting each of them.

The game was on as Omagh's lead had depleted significantly to 36-31. Omagh woke up again towards the end of the half with three quick tries from Jessica Milligan, Sammi Jo Preston and Jessica Brady who ran the length of the pitch to score in corner!

The game was over and Omagh were victorious 51-31 winners.

Finals day will take place at the Affedia (Kingspan) Stadium on Sunday, March 8.

The U14s will face Enniskillen while the older girls opposition has been confirmed as Ballymena/Cooke.

The Omagh girls will be hoping for a large travelling crowd in support for this momentous occasion.